As If Happy Endings Exist
by OrigamiGirl
Summary: Sasori/Sakura - Shall we play a game together
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hi there! This is a little idea that popped into my head a while ago and I began to write it but I just finished it today. In this fic, I decided to step out of my norm of usually writing SasuSaku and instead, write a SasoSaku. I really like Sasori and I was bummed when he died.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the characters.

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"Thanks so much for helping me today at the shop," Ino sighed, walking next to Sakura down the street. "I don't know what I would have done without you. I wasn't expecting such a big crowd today."

Sakura smiled. "It was no problem."

"No. I really owe you a lot. Now because of you, I can go on my date with Shikamaru later."

"You'll have fun," Sakura told her.

"Hey! Speaking of dates, I heard that you had another one last night with Kiba," Ino said, nudging her friend's shoulder playfully. "How was it?"

Sakura inwardly sighed at the conversation turning towards her dating life.

Kiba had asked her out about a month ago and after some pushing from Ino, Sakura had said yes. Since then; they'd gone out several times. He was a nice guy and everything but Sakura knew there was something wrong. Sure, every time she went out with him, they had fun but to her, it didn't feel like a serious relationship. It was more like they were just good friends. Sakura didn't feel a spark with him at all.

"The date was fine," Sakura answered her friend finally.

Ino gave her a hard look. "Fine?! The guy's a total babe and that' all you have to say?"

"Shikamaru wouldn't be so happy if he heard you talking about another guy that way," Sakura teased, but she was also trying to turn the conversation away from her.

Ino didn't take the bait.

"So did anything interesting I should know about happen between you two," the blonde asked curiously with another playful nudge.

"No. Not really," Sakura lied and Ino gave her a look that told her she suspected what she was doing.

The truth was that something had happened. For the first time last night, Kiba had tried to kiss her and it wasn't how first kisses were supposed to be. He had walked her home after they had gone out to dinner and on her doorstep was when he tried. He had leaned in closer to her, the closest they'd ever been and surprised, Sakura had backed away without thinking. She instantly had seen the hurt in his eyes at her reaction and she apologized before escaping too her apartment.

It had all been too awkward for her and she had a feeling it had been the same for him.

"I don't think it's going to work out between us," Sakura voiced her doubts out loud to Ino.

"What? Why?"

Sakura didn't want to go on talking about this any longer and she was glad that they were standing in front of her apartment complex now. As she reached into her pockets for her keys, she answered, "I think Kiba and me are better just being friends."

Sakura put the keys in the lock as Ino watched her. "You know," the blonde said. "One day you're really going to have to forget about him. He's not going to come back."

Opening her door, Sakura asked confused, "Who are you talking about?"

"Sasuke."

Sakura froze and turned to look at Ino but she was already half way down the street, waving back at her. Sighing, she turned back to her apartment, and walked in, pulling the door shut behind her. .

As soon as Sakura stepped into her house, she knew something different. It just didn't feel right. Like something was wrong. She was sure that she wasn't the only one in her small apartment.

Peeking her head around the corner, Sakura looked down the main hall but saw no signs that an intruder was with her. Still, she took a couple kunai knives that she kept in a small drawer in a table next to the front door. She always kept weapons hidden around her house just in case one day, she would need them. It was what living a life as a ninja had done to her.

She immediately started checking the rooms. The kitchen was empty with the dirty dishes still in the sink as before. Her bedroom was the same as well with her messy bed that she still had yet to make since that morning. Walking into the bathroom to check next, Sakura had a scary shower curtain moment, and she had to summon up some courage to check to make sure no one was hiding behind it, waiting to kill her.

There was no one in the whole house. Not even a small sign that someone had ever been in the apartment but her.

"Stupid," Sakura called herself. "Don't be so paranoid."

She dropped her weapons onto the side table before sinking down onto her couch. Sighing, she closed her eyes and started to rub her temples. She felt a headache coming on due to Ino's words from earlier still running through her mind.

One day you're really going to have to forget about him…Sasuke…He's not coming back…

"She doesn't have to tell me that," Sakura whispered out. "It's not like I don't already know..."

But still, she guessed that a little part of her had always hoped and dreamed that one day, he would come back. That maybe he'd realize the mistake he'd made in his younger days but that had yet to happen and that part of her that was always hoping was dyeing away slowly now.

Throwing her arm over her eyes, Sakura let out another sigh. "Stop thinking about him!" she commanded.

"Do you always talk to yourself?" a voice asked.

Sakura sat up fast to see someone sitting in the chair that she was sure had been empty only seconds ago. She blinked a couple times, sure that her eyes were wrong. The person who was in front of her couldn't really be there. She had to hallucinating. It wasn't possible for someone she killed over a year and a half ago to be sitting in her living room. Yet there he was. The same familiar read hair sweeping into his eyes and that confident smirk staining his lips.

Sasori.

Sakura flew off the couch and accidently crashed into the table sending all the kunai knives crashing to the floor but that was the least of her worries. Raising her hand to point at Sasori, she shouted, "You're dead! You're supposed to be dead."

Sighing, the man stood. "You've kept me waiting a long time," he told her. "And you know how much I hate that."

Sakura stared at him opened mouth and Sasori offered her a wicked smile that sent her heart beating a mile per minute.

"What…" she trailed off. "How?"

"That's not important right now," he told her, taking a step closer.

Instantly, Sakura's response to his approach was to pick up one of the kunais off the floor and throw it at him. Sasori didn't even blink as he easily caught it and began to twirl it between his fingers.

"Are you scared?" he asked, his eyes lighting up at the thought.

Sakura didn't stay to answer. Instead, she turned and ran. Having no interest in playing his mind games with him. She rounded the corner into the hall just in time as the kunai that Sasori had been holding landed in the wall right where her head had been only seconds before. Sakura ran back down the hall, tipping furniture over as she passed to make it harder for the puppet master to follow her, but it was no use. Standing in front of the door like a guard was one of Sasori's many puppets, trapping her in. Sakura hesitated, not knowing what to do and in that moment, Sasori caught her.

Sakura found herself thrown against the wall and her head hit it with a sickening cracking noise making her emit a whimper of pain as the room around her started to spin. Sasori pinned both her hands above her head with one of his own and with his other, he clamped it down over her mouth so she couldn't scream for help. Sakura felt him lean closer to her until their bodies were only inches apart.

"Now, now," Sasori whispered into her ear. "Is that any way to treat a guest? Don't you know how hard it was for me to find you?"

Sakura tried to call him a bastard but with her mouth covered by him, it just came out a mumbled mess.

"To be defeated by a little girl like you is embarrassing," Sasori continued on as Sakura tried to squirm to get free. "Do you think that I'm really just going to let that go?" He looked down at her obviously amused at her being his prisoner. "Now what to do with you?" he mussed. "You need a proper punishment and I don't think making you apart of my collection is enough. You deserve something that involves more pain."

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the front door and a woman's voice rung out, asking, "Sakura? Are you okay?"

Both Sasori and Sakura turned to look at the door, wondering who was interrupting them.

"Sakura?" the voice asked again.

"Who is it?" Sasori asked, looking down at his captive. He took his hand away allowing her to answer.

"I don't know," Sakura told him truthfully.

Sasori glared at her then at the door as more urgent knocking sounds and cries of Sakura's name started.

"Answer it," Sasori commanded and Sakura looked at him bewildered. "But,"  
he continued on, "If you say anything about me being her, I'll kill her along with you, understand?"

Sakura glared but gave a curt nod representing that yes, she did and Sasori after some hesitation released her but kept a solid grip on one of her wrists. He twisted it painfully behind her back and taking his own kunai out of a holster that was wrapped around his leg, he held it at her back as a clear sign that he'd easily carry out his threat if she did give him up.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura opened the door a crack to see an old woman standing there. She recognized the woman as her neighbor who lived in the apartment to the right of her own.

"Sakura!" the woman gushed with obvious relief in her eyes. "I was worried. Are you okay? I heard lots of banging noises coming from your apartment."

Sakura just stared at the woman, wondering how she could somehow get a message to her about the intruder until she felt a slight jab in her back with a kunai knife from Sasori.

"I'm…fine," Sakura answered but she made a slight head movement trying to signal to the old woman that someone was behind her.

"Are you sure?" the woman pressed, clearly not getting the message.

"Yes," Sakura answered, once again doing the head move.

This time, her neighbor gave her a strange look. One that obviously said that she thought Sakura was acting strange and that she whished she hadn't come over to check what was going on. "If you're all right, I'm going back now," the old woman said, trying to excuse herself

"No!" Sakura panicked at losing her only chance. "Wait! Don't go!"

The old woman stopped to look back at her unsure. "Sakura?" she questioned.

Sakura opened her mouth to tell her that she needed help but before she could, Sasori gave her another sharp jab in the back; a very painful reminder that he was still standing behind her. "I'll kill her," he whispered in Sakura's ear.

"Are you sure you're okay?" the woman asked. "Should I call someone for you?"

"No. Everything's okay," Sakura whispered out. "Thank you for coming to check on me."

The woman nodded before turning and quickly walked away while Sasori slammed the door shut. Once again, Sakura found herself alone with the puppet master.

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So it is good? Bad? Should I continue? I'm not really sure where I want this fic to but we'll see.

Thanks for reading and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Hi again guys! Here's chapter two which means that yes, I am going to continue this fic. I actullay think it's tons of fun to write. And OMG! Thanks to all of those who reviewed the first chapter and for all the positive feedback! You guys rock!

I worked seriously hard on this chapter so I hope you like it!!

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Sasori pulled Sakura by her wrist back into the apartment and slammed the door closed with a loud bang, leaving them all alone once more. He pinned her again before she could get away only this time, instead of against the wall, it was the door.

"What an annoying interruption," he said, refering to Sakura's neighbor. "But now that it's over, it's back to figuring out what your punishment shall be."

Sakura glared. "If you're just here to kill me, why not get it over with quickly?"

"And where would be the fun in that?" Sasori asked her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "I'd rather play with you a while longer."

Sakura's response was to aim a kick at one of his shins and Sasori stepped away slightly causing her to miss. In case of her trying again, Sasori pressed his whole body up against hers, making sure she couldn't move at all. Disgusted by the puppet master's closeness, Sakura started to squirm, trying to break free from his strong hold.

"You still have so much fire in you," Sasori remarked with a smirk. Reaching out, he grabbed a strand of her pink hair that had fallen into her eyes, his hand brushing slightly against her cheek in the process and began to twirl it around one of his fingers. "That's good," he continued on. "It'll be more fun to break you then."

"Sick bastard," Sakura seethed.

Sasori squeezed both her wrists above her head painfully hard, for her name calling. "You really should recognize your situation little girl," he told her, his voice hard. "You're the captive here while I'm the one in control so you really should try to behave better if you want to live longer."

"I don't have to behave or do anything you say," Sakura whispered defiantly. "I'm not one of your puppets!"

"Yet," Sasori added. "But you soon will be." He waited for Sakura to say something but when she didn't, he continued on. "Because you are my captive," he said. "You answer my questions. Earlier, I asked you if you were afraid and you have yet to answer me." When his captive kept her silence, he warned, "I'm not a very patient man so I suggest that you answer me quickly."

This time, Sakura came back with, "Why would I be afraid of a piece of wood?"

Sasori brought his hand back and Sakura flinched, bracing herself for a slap that she was sure to come but when nothing happened, she barely opened her eyes, peeking to see why. The hand that Sakura had been afraid of was now holding the side of Sasori's shirt collar open, revealing pale skin under it with no hint of wood in sight.

"You we're saying," the puppet master asked, seeing the confusion in his captive's eyes.

"You're..." Sakura started. "You're normal?"

"Yes," Sasori said and his hand that had been holding his shirt open slammed down on the wall inches from Sakura's head, causing her to flinch. "And do you know whose fault it is that I'm this way?" he asked, his eyes darkening. "It's the old hag's as well as yours. Because of you, I feel things now; things that I have no desire to feel at all and it's been making living on for me hell. So I figure why not return the favor for making me this way. Why not make your life hell as well?" Sakura looked at the man standing before her horrified causing Sasori to smirk. Leaning closer, he whispered in her ear, "So we're going to play a little game. One where I will ruin and break you. I'll start out simple first, with little things like making you lose the trust and respect of everyone that you care about or getting you fired from your little job at that hospital. Then, after that, I'll escalate it a bit. Who knows? Maybe one of your friends might up and disappear then be found in dead in a ditch the next day. Either way, by the end of it, you're going to practically be begging to die and that's when I'm going to take you and make you apart of my collection."

"And you think I'll just stand by, letting all of this happen?" Sakura asked him. "Like I'm not going to tell someone that you're here?"

"Go ahead," Sasori said. "Tell anyone you want about me but do you think that they'd actually believe you?"

Sakura gave him a look of confidence. "Of course they would."

"Would they really?" he asked, his face leaning in closer to hers. "If you told them that me, a dead man had been in your house, living, breathing, and talking to you, how do you really think your little friends would react?" Sasori smirked as he saw the understanding light up Sakura's eyes. "That's right," he continued on. "If you were actually to squeal to someone, they'd think that you'd lost your mind. You'd be locked up forever so go ahead, tell anyone you want. In the end, it'd benefit me more than you."

Sakura glared at the man before her, knowing that he had her there.

"So yes, you are going to play this little game with me," Sasori told her. "And you're going to lose."

"I refuse to!" Sakura yelled.

"Good. It's going to be more fun for me if you put up a fight," he smirked as his hand crept up behind her neck, cupping her head. "I'll enjoy seeing what you're going to do to try to stop me."

With that, he hit the pressure point in Sakura's neck causing her to groan and slump against him. Picking her up bridal style, he started down the hall towards her bedroom and kicked her door open to enter it. He placed her on the bed and Sakura moaned into her pillow, as the world around her was becoming blurrier by the second.

"Sweet dreams," she heard Sasori mock. "They might be the last ones you have."

Sakura couldn't hold on any longer. She passed out.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura's eyes whipped open, expecting to see Sasori still looming over her but the space where he'd been before was now empty. In confusion, she sat up in bed, looking around for the puppet master. There was nothing as far as she could see. Glancing down at herself though, she saw that she was in her tank top and shorts that she always slept in and the clothes that she'd worn the day before lay abandoned on the floor in the far corner. Pushing the covers off and standing up, Sakura tried to suppress a shudder at the thought of Sasori changing her. Touching her.

She quickly pushed the thought out of her mind; telling herself that finding where Sasori's hiding spot was more important. Getting down on all fours, she checked under her bed but saw nothing but dust bunnies hiding there. She quickly got to her feet and looked towards her closet next which could also be called a perfect place for an enemy to hide yet he wasn't in there either.

Walking out of her room, Sakura looked around her apartment in confusion. He wasn't in any of the rooms nor was their any sign that he'd ever been. The kunais that she'd dropped on the floor when he'd first surprised her were no longer there. Instead, Sakura found them in their original place in the drawer of the old table. Even where the kunai had pierced the wall when Sasori had thrown it at her was normal with no trace of it having ever been damaged.

Biting her lip, Sakura paced in the living room, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

'Maybe it was a dream,' she figured. 'Maybe you just were really tired since you helped Ino at the shop yesterday and when you came home, you fell asleep and dreamt it all.'

She was sure that was highly doubtful though. It had all seemed too real to be a dream and yet, why was there no clue of Sasori anywhere?

The words that he had whispered came back to haunt her.

_We're going to play a game…I'm going to make your life a living hell…I'm going to break you_

Sakura's brow furrowed. 'What could he be planning?' she thought, deciding to check the house from top to bottom once more. The results were the same with him being no where. Not even the slightest trace at all. More thoughts about him being nothing more than a dream ran through her mind again but so did the doubts about the theory.

Sighing in frustration, Sakura spied the clock hanging on the wall and saw that if she didn't get a move on, she was going to be late for her shift at the hospital but she was reluctant to move.

_First, I'll start out with something small…Like losing your job at the hospital…_

That what he had told her and if that was what he really was starting with, should she take the risk of going to work? No. Haruno Sakura wasn't going to hide away. That was something Sasori would want her to do. To cower in fear of him. She wasn't going to let him stop her from living her life.

Walking into her bathroom, Sakura eyed the shower nervously. What if he decided to attack her in there? With such a small enclosed space, she could easily be overpowered by him, but it wasn't like she could go to work without washing first. Quickly, she peeled of her clothes and stepped in wasting no time with turning on the water. It rushed out, cold at first which caused her to shiver but soon, it warmed up. There was no way though that it was going to help calm down her nerves. She jumped at the slightest noise whether it was real or her mind making it up because of her paranoia. Every couple of seconds, she peeked out behind the shower curtain; making sure no one was in the room with her. There never was.

Sakura tried to finish washing as fast as possible and needless to say, it was her shortest shower ever. When she was done, she pulled the curtain open and reached out for a towel but instantly froze.

There on the bathroom mirror which had fogged up from the steam of the shower were the words, 'The game starts today.'

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Okay...was that good? Bad? Please review and tell me and thanks for reading it!

And I also have a question. Is Sasori's personality okay in this fic?? Does it fit??


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Hi! Chapter three is here. I really started out hating this chapter but now, I think it's a great one! Thanks for all the reviews and the answer to my question about Sasori's personality. Hope you like this chapter and enjoy!

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_Your punishment starts today…_

Those four little words that had been written in the steam of Sakura's bathroom mirror kept replaying over and over in her head, causing slight shivers to run down her spine.

"Sakura-san?" a woman's voice asked. "…Sakura-san?"

A hand began to wave up and down in front of Sakura's view, capturing her attention. Looking up, she saw Ayu, one of the many nurses who worked at the hospital standing over her.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Were you saying something?"

Ayu set a stack of books that she'd been carrying down on the desk that Sakura was sitting at. "Here," she offered. "These are all the books that you asked for."

Sakura gave the young nurse a small smile. "Thank you," she told her, taking the book off the top of the stack. She had expected Ayu to leave then but when she stayed, Sakura asked, "Was there something else?"

"Ah! I'm sorry," Ayu apologized with a quick bow of her head. "It's just…I was wondering why you asked so suddenly for all these books about puppet masters."

Sakura swallowed hard. "I was just curious about them," she lied pathetically. Clearing her throat, she continued on with it. "I was just thinking that I should research them just for future reasons."

Ayu gave Sakura a curious look, showing that she wasn't exactly buying into the whole thing but she still nodded, knowing not to question into the topic any further. "I understand," she said. "I'll be leaving then."

"Thanks again," Sakura murmured before the door to her office was shut, leaving her all alone.

Immediately, she turned her attention onto the heavy book that she held in her hands. Opening it, she began to do something that Haruno Sakura did best.

Research.

She was looking for specific information. Something along the lines of how a puppet master turned himself into a puppet and if it was possible to turn back into a human. Sakura hadn't thought that it was until the day before when Sasori had shown her that he was now made of flesh with no wood in sight. Figuring if she knew more about the subject, Sakura was sure that she could get rid of her new found stalker faster.

Sighing, Sakura slammed the book shut, finding nothing in it that she did not already know. Deeming it now useless to her, she pushed it off to the side before picking up the next one and started to page through it.

It was the same as the first. Useless. As well were the third and the fourth.

Her anger rising at her search being fruitless, Sakura slammed down the current book she was reading on her desk with a loud bang. She reached up and began to rub her temples, trying to fight off the bad headache that was starting.

Nothing. Nothing that she needed was in these books. But, why? Konoha had one of the best libraries so there should have been at least a small bit of information that she required. She wouldn't put it pass Sasori though to have taken everything that she had needed out of the library. It was definitely something that he'd do.

Right now though, she couldn't worry about that too much because she only had ten minutes of her shift left and yet another problem on her hands.

Her apartment.

She couldn't stay there alone anymore. Staying by herself was just making it too easy for Sasori to find her and therefore, making her easier prey. The little message that he'd left for her on the mirror that morning was enough to prove that, but just what exactly could she do?

Inviting a friend over to stay with her or staying at one of their places was out of the question. It would put them in to much danger. What were her other options? A motel? It could work, she guessed. Even more, she could move from place to place to make it even harder for Sasori to locate her but the plan had faults. More like money faults. Sakura wasn't one who was exactly made of money but she hoped she could take care of Sasori before then.

Picking up the two remaining books that she had yet to look through, Sakura stood and turned the light off to her office before leaving, shutting and locking the door behind her. With a quick wave to the nurse at the front desk, she walked out the doors of the hospital into the bright, sunny day. Sakura turned the corner and began to walk down the length of the chain fence that surrounded the hospital when someone reached out, grabbing her shoulder. Quickly, she spun around, ready for a fight but it wasn't Sasori standing there like she had expected.

It was her boyfriend.

"K-Kiba?" Sakura stuttered, her heart slowly returning to it's normal pace.

"…Hey," the brown haired boy greeted with an awkward wave. "Sorry. Did I scare ya?"

"No…I was just…" she trailed off, not really sure what to say. "What are you doing here," she settled with.

Kiba's ears turned slightly red and he looked purposely over her shoulder as he answered, "Isn't it normal for a guy to walk his girlfriend home?"

Sakura felt her face turn hot as a small blush began to creep across her face because of his words. "Kiba…I-"

Suddenly, someone bumped hard into her shoulder, sending all of the books that she'd been hugging to her chest to the floor.

"Ah, I'm sorry," a deep voice said and Sakura instantly turned, recognizing it. Sure enough, there stood Sasori, a slight smirk on his lips as he continued on. "I'm always so clumsy." Bending down, he started to pick her books up. "Here, let me get those for you."

Sakura watched on, horrified and confused.

What was he doing out on a street of Konoha in broad daylight? Wouldn't he be caught?

Peering over her shoulder at Kiba to see his reaction to the puppet master was, she saw that her boyfriend look worried or ready to attack. In fact, he looked down right calm.

Looking back down at Sasori, Sakura finally understood. The only people in the world who knew who Sasori really looked like was Chiyo, and herself. To everyone else, he was just an innocent bystander with only her knowing what he was truly capable of.

"Puppet masters, huh?" Sasori said, noticing one of the covers of the books. "Interesting subject." Standing he held them out to her, but instead of taking the books, Sakura backed away. "Why so shy today?" Sasori teased her with another smirk.

Kiba looked from the stranger to Sakura, confusion evident on his face. "Do you know him?" he asked, pointing in the red head's direction.

Before Sakura could say anything, Sasori answered, "We're old friends."

"No!" Sakura denied. "No, we're not!"

Sasori's eyes darkened a fraction but his arrogant smirk still danced on his lips. "Now now, don't be so mean," he told her as he came closer to dump all the books into her hands. "I was so nice to pick these up for you." He leaned in so only she could hear his next words. "I left a little surprise for you at your apartment," he whispered. "I think you'll like it"

"Hey!" Kiba interrupted as he grabbed the back of Sasori's shirt to pull him away from Sakura. "Leaver her alone. She doesn't seem to like you."

Sasori shrugged Kiba off to glare. "You should stay out of things that don't concern you."

"C-Come on Kiba," Sakura urged, pulling on his hand. She couldn't have him get into a fight with Sasori, one she was pretty sure he'd lose. Kiba didn't budge though. "Please Kiba," she begged.

"You should listen to her," Sasori told him. "Who knows what I might do to you."

Kiba glared at the remark but from more pulling from Sakura, he finally relented and allowed her to lead him away. Sakura looked over her shoulder to peer at the puppet master but saw that he had already disappeared.

"Who was that guy?" Kiba asked, glancing down at her.

"No one," Sakura answered quickly.

"He seemed to know you."

"He's just someone who gets a kick out of causing trouble for others," she told him. "That's all."

"…Is he causing trouble for you?"

Sakura looked up at him, meeting his heavy gaze. She could tell him. Tell him everything about Sasori right now. Maybe he'd believe her or maybe…

_If you told them that me, a dead man had been in your house, living, breathing, and talking to you, how do you really think your little friends would react…That's right. If you were actually to squeal to someone, they'd think that you'd lost your mind. You'd be locked up forever so go ahead, tell anyone you want. In the end, it'd benefit me more than you_

Those words that Sasori whispered to her the day before replayed in her head as she continued to walk next to Kiba.

"No," Sakura told Kiba, giving him a smile. "No, I'm fine. Everything's fine. Don't worry so much."

--

Sakura closed her door to her apartment, and closing her eyes, she leaned against it, emitting a sigh. _'You have to hurry,_' she reminded herself, and she pushed her off to go and quickly pack.

Walking into her living room though, she stopped. It was a mess with the couch turned over and her notes for work littering the floor. The kitchen was worse when she checked it. Dishes lay broken at her feet and the refrigerator was on the ground.

'Bedroom,' she thought, immediately starting for it, hoping that it lay untouched.

Opening the door, she cursed as she stepped on something, causing a cracking noise. Looking down, she saw it was the picture of the old Team 7, the glass and frame completely ruined. She picked it up off the floor and cradled it in her hands like a special treasure as she looked around at the rest of the mess her room had become. Clothes were strewn about the room, most being ripped and tattered. Drawers from her dresser were also thrown about, their contents spilling out onto the floor.

"Bastard!" Sakura whispered under her breath, knowing just whose fault all of this was. Tears began to prick at her eyes, but she pushed them away, refusing to allow the puppet master to make her cry.

"So, do you like my little surprise?" a voice asked.

Sakura didn't even have to turn to know it was Sasori but she still did anyways.

"Does it look like I like it?" she asked with malice heavy in her voice.

"I did a good job at messing your place up since you're so mad," he said with a smirk. "Just wait. You haven't seen the best part yet."

"The best part?" Sakura repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"Look hard," he told her. "I borrowed some things."

Sakura's eyes widened. "What did you take?" she shouted. "Tell me!"

Reaching into his pants pocket, Sasori took out a small pink book that Sakura recognized as the old diary she had kept when she was twelve. He waved it in front of her face, and when she tried to snatch it, he pulled back; making sure it was just out of her reach. "I don't think so." he told her, pocketing the small book again. "I'm not quite done reading it yet."

"You sick son-of-a-"

He cut her off. "You really are a rude girl, you know." he told her. "First with not thanking me for picking up your books and now with the name calling. Just where exactly did you learn your manners?"

_Smack!_

The noise from her slap echoed loudly around them in the tiny room. Sasori hadn't seen it coming since it had happened so fast and Sakura wasn't even sure what she'd done until she felt the raw stinging on her hand. Looking up, she could see a red angry mark was forming on his cheek from where she had hit him. Sasori trained his eyes on hers, all playfulness now gone from them replaced by something cold and hard. Before she could react, he reached out and took a hold of her neck with one of his hands. Dropping the picture frame, Sakura began to claw at his hands, trying to get him to release her.

"That was uncalled for," Sasori told her, tightening his hold gently. "Didn't I tell you yesterday that if you want to live longer, you should behave? Now apologize."

Sakura's eyes flashed with defiance. "Never," she spit out, as she continued to struggle. "I wish I'd slapped you harder."

Sasori glared at her words. "If you want to see tomorrow, I suggest you do as I say," he said with a tighter squeeze.

Sakura almost couldn't breathe now and her lungs were starting to burn; their want for air bad. She knew though that by how much pressure he was applying, that it wasn't enough to kill her. Just torture her which he was doing perfectly.

"Apologize," Sasori ordered again.

Shutting her eyes tight, Sakura could not believing what she was about to say. "I'm…sorry," she whispered, allowing her pride to be dragged through the dust by the puppet master.

"…Good," Sasori said, and with that, he released her, pushing her away from him.

Sakura stumbled back, coughing and began to finger where he had had a hold on her.

"Try that again," Sasori started. "And I promise you that next time I won't just accept an apology."

Sakura stared at the man before her, fear running through her veins, knowing that she couldn't stay there anymore. Just being in the same room with him was dangerous. She grabbed a backpack that had been untouched from Sasori's rampage on her place and began to quickly pick through the clothes strewn around her room, throwing some of them in. All the while, she kept a close eye on the puppet master, never daring to turn her back on him.

"What are you doing?" Sasori asked, watching her with mild interest. "Are you going somewhere?"

"…"

Understanding flickered in Sasori's eyes. "So you're going to try and run from me," he said, his playfulness slowly returning. "Just where are you going?" Sakura kept her silence as she continued to pack. "Are you going to that guy's house?" he pried. Still nothing from her. "Who is he anyways?"

"None of your business," Sakura told him, finally breaking her silence with a glare. She figured the less he knew about Kiba, the better.

Sasori cocked his head to the side as he continued to watch her. "Interesting," he mussed. "And this whole time, I thought the Uchiha was the one you liked."

Sakura froze and looked up at him. "And just how would you know about that?"

"I did read your diary," he said, touching his pocket where it rested. "So is it the Uchiha you like or the other one?"

"Again, that's none of your business," she told him while resuming her task The last thing she grabbed was the picture of team 7 from it's broken frame before gently put it in her bag, zipping it up. Hoisting it over her shoulder, she walked out of her bedroom.

"So do I get a hint as to where you're running off to?" Sasori asked, following her.

Her response was to slam the front door shut, leaving him alone in her apartment.

Sasori chuckled darkly. "So we're going to play hide and seek now," he mussed. "How fun."

* * *

Sorry guys but I'm gonna cut it there. Good? Bad? Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** Hello people! Here's chapter four. Let me warn ya that this chapter gets a bit fluffy towards the end and I hope you enjoy it. And I want to thank all of the people who are reviewing. Cookies for you!

* * *

Three days.

It had been three straight days of Sakura not seeing Sasori and it was really starting to worry her. Him not lurking around was more uncomfortable then his constant teasing because she knew it meant he was up to something but right now, she didn't have the slightest clue at to what it could be.

The sound of the door to Sakura's office banging open was enough to bring the rosette kunochi out of her thoughts about the puppet master and looking up, she saw a nurse standing there, her face full of panic.

"Sakura-san," she gushed. "Come quickly."

Within seconds, Sakura was out of her seat dashing after the nurse.

"What's wrong?" she questioned falling into step her.

"A man was brought in a couple minutes ago," the nurse started to explain. "He was found unconscious in the forest just outside the gates by a couple men and we can't find out what's wrong with him. He's in here."

The nurse opened a door to one of the operating rooms and both Sakura and her walked in. Inside, there was a man lying on the hospital bed, his forehead scrunched up in obvious pain.

"Do you have the smallest idea as to what's wrong with him?" Sakura asked.

The nurse shook her head. "No."

Sakura nodded and began to gather healing chakra into her hands as she approached him and placing them softy on the man's abdomen, she began scanning to find out what the problem was. She found it instantly.

"Poison," she whispered out. "It's poison." Looking up at the nurse, she ordered, "Fetch me several buckets of water now! We have to treat him quickly"

Nodding, the nurse let to do what she was told and Sakura turned back to her patient. Grabbing a damp wash cloth, she dabbed at the man's sweaty brow.

"Who did this to you?" she asked him.

The man's response was to garble out unrecognizable words and his face contorted into an expression of pain.

"Shh…." Sakura soothed, trying to make him to relax. "It's going to be okay."

Within moments the nurse was back with what Sakura had asked for. Quickly, she thanked her before resting her hand over the water and she started the same technique that she had last used on Kankuro over a year ago. This way, she could get most the poison out of his system and be able to study it so she could find a cure.

"Hold him down," Sakura ordered the nurse and using the water, she started to extract the poison.

It had a sick familiar purplish tint to it and Sakura had a good feeling of just who's it was.

Sasori's.

After further speculation, she confirmed it and turning to the nurse, she began to list the herbs and other tools that she would need for the antidote. Together, after thirty minutes of fast, hard work, they perfected the cure and taking the man's arm, she wiped it before sticking the needle in, giving it to him. Instantly, she saw a change in the man as his face relaxed and Sakura let out a small of relief, knowing that everything was going to be okay.

"He just needs to rest now," Sakura told the nurse. "He should be f-

She was cut off by the machine that was monitoring his heart starting to go crazy with beeping noises.

"What's happening?" the nurse asked.

"H-He's going into cardiac arrest," Sakura whispered.

--

Sakura watched on grimly as Tsunade looked down at the man who now in a coma and resting in a hospital bed.

"Sakura," Tsunade whispered. "I understand that the antidote you made and gave caused him to be this way."

Sakura nodded, ashamed.

"What happened?" Tsunade asked.

"…I don't know," Sakura told her honestly.

Tsunade let out a sigh. "Sakura…do you understand the punishment for this?"

Biting her lip, Sakura nodded knowing that if she were to say anything, she might erupt into sobs.

"…Then, Haruno Sakura, you are to be suspended for three months." Tsunade told her. "During that time, you will be stripped of your job at the hospital and also you shinobi status. You will not be allowed to go on missions with your team nor will you be allowed to leave Konoha."

Sakura could feel the raw burn in her eyes from trying to hold back the tears as she listened to her punishment.

"I'm sorry Sakura," her shishou whispered. When Sakura didn't say anything, she said, "You can go."

Sakura turned and did just that.

Walking out of the hospital, Sakura turned onto the street feeling numb.

Suspension. 

The word was running through Sakura's head over and over.

"Sakura-chan!" a loud voice shouted. She didn't hear it. "Sakura-chan, wait up!"

Suspension. Suspension. Suspension. 

A hand touched her shoulder gently, and Naruto was suddenly in front of her, his eyes bright with concern. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I called your name and you didn't stop." He leaned in closer to study her. "What's wrong?"

She was suspended… 

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes, and she turned her face away from Naruto's so he couldn't see. "Nothing," she told him, proud that her voice didn't waver at all as she answered. "I have to go right now, okay." She pushed past him quickly. "I'll talk to you later."

She could feel Naruto's curious stare boring into her back but she ignored it, allowing her feet to carry her away. She didn't care to where to as long as it was somewhere where she could be alone.

"What's wrong?" she heard a voice ask. "You look sad? Bad day at work?"

Sakura whipped around to see Sasori standing before her with a confident smirk on his lips, leaning casually against a wall. Instantly, Sakura's eyes filled with pure hatred for the puppet master. "Your poison," she whispered. "What did you do to it?"

"Do you like it?" Sasori asked smug. "I made a slight change. One so small that even someone with your medical expertise wouldn't have noticed. One where if you used the same antidote as before, it would immediately cause the person to have a heart attack."

Sakura glared "That's nothing to be proud of!" she shouted. "Because of you, I almost killed one of my patients today!"

"That pathetic man?" Sasori asked. "He was a poor excuse of a human being to start with; nothing more than a drunkard that had no use to anyone. You shouldn't be so concerned about him."

Sakura started for him, her fist drawn to unleash hell. "Human lives aren't toys for you to play with!" she shouted, aiming a punch.

"Are you angry?" Sasori teased, shifting so she missed.

Sakura's answer was to try and hit him again but Sasori easily caught her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back causing her to grimace in slight pain. Leaning in, he whispered, "You should be happy. Just think of it this way. Now we have more time to play together."

He pushed her away and stumbling forward, Sakura landed on her knees. Turning, she saw that Sasori had disappeared already, leaving her to herself.

--

"Sit," Ino ordered, pointing to her bed.

Sakura did as told and groaned, "Why did you even call me over here?"

"Because," Ino started. "I'm going to help you cheer up."

"I'm going home," Sakura said starting to stand, but Ino was already pushing her back down.

"No. You're not," the blonde said. "We're going out tonight and damn it, we're going to have a good time."

Sakura highly doubted that. All she had wanted to do after her encounter with Sasori was crawl back to her tiny room in the motel she was currently staying at so she could curl up under the sheets and start up a round of self pity but a call from Ino had changed all that.

Something soft landed on Sakura's head, dragging her back to the present and she sat up, looking at a top and skirt Ino had thrown on her.

"What are these for?" she asked, holding them up.

"They're called clothes," Ino said sarcastically. "You're supposed to wear them. Now go change."

Sakura shook her head. "No. I told you already that I don't want to go out tonight."

Ino walked over and dragged Sakura off the bed and began to push her towards the bathroom. Opening the door, she pushed her friend in before quickly slamming the door shut again. "Change!" she ordered. "Now!"

"Ino," Sakura groaned from inside.

"I'm not letting you out till you change," Ino said, leaning against the door. She heard a sigh come from inside the bathroom but several shuffling noises followed it, proof that her friend was indeed changing.

A few minutes later, Sakura tapped on the door. "I'm done," Sakura said.

Ino swung the door open, looking her friend up and down. "You look great!" she

Interested, Sakura walked over to full length mirror against the wall and studied herself. Her pale skin glowed in contrast against the black, and her short spiky pink hair went with the whole out fit to her surprise.

"See," Ino said. "Didn't I tell you that you look great?"

"No, I don't," Sakura told her, fingering the too short for comfort skirt. "I look like a slut. Can't I wear something else?"

"No. You're going to wear that!" Ino insisted.

"Why?"

"Because," Ino started, walking back over to her closet to pick out her own outfit. "If you wear that, you'll have more fun tonight."

"I have a boyfriend," Sakura reminded her with a sigh. "And so do you."

"Yeah, I know, but sometimes it's okay to let loose."

"Where are we even going?" Sakura asked.

"To a club."

--

"Here ya go!" Ino said, holding a bottle of beer out to Sakura. "Cheer up and drink!"

Sakura pushed it away. "No Ino," she told her. "Absolutely not."

"But why?" Ino whined, swaying it in front of Sakura's face to try and tempt her.

Once again, Sakura rejected it. "Isn't it enough that I let you drag me out here?" she asked.

"Come onnn," Ino drawled out. "I know that out of everyone here, you're the one who really needs a drink the most because of…everything that happened today."

Sakura swore that she had never heard a truer sentence and she eyed the bottle nervously. "…Fine," she agreed, taking it. "But just this one."

"Good!" Ino smiled.

But then one turned into two and then three until Sakura lost count. Her head had become fuzzy in the last couple hours and just stringing two thoughts together was now a serious challenge but she didn't care. It felt good. She was forgetting everything that had happened, and stepping into an intoxicating high where there were no limits.

A tap on Sakura's shoulder caught her attention and she turned in her seat to see a handsome dark haired guy standing there.

"Hey," he greeted with a sexy grin. "Do you wanna dance?"

Sakura smiled and took his hand that he'd offered out to her, allowing him to lead her away from Ino who was too busy flirting with some guys to notice her disappearance.

The music blasted through the speakers as the new couple danced out on the floor, swaying in motion to each other and before Sakura even knew what was happening, she found herself outside, making out with the strange man in the alley behind the bar.

'What am I doing? I don't even know this guy,' Sakura thought dazed, but she didn't stop the man's hand when it started to roam up her thigh and under her skirt.

'You're sick,' a voice in her head whispered. 'Your making out with a random stranger and liking it. You're nothing more than a common whore.'

'Shut up!' Sakura shouted back at it and she fisted the man's hair in her hands to bring him closer to her so to increase the passion of their kiss.

'You have a boyfriend,' the voice kept on going, only louder this time. 'Kiba. He loves you and you're betraying him now You're a slut. You're pathetic. You're weak!'' 

"No!" Sakura shouted out loud as she pushed the man away from her, trying to catch her breath.

"What's wrong?" the man asked her, coming closer to try and give another kiss.

She shyed away from it. "No," she told him again. "I-I'm sorry. This was a mistake. I can't do this!"

She turned to leave but the man grabbed her arm in a painful vice grip, not allowing her to walk away from him. "Bitch!" he called her, his kind façade now gone. "You can't act this way after leading me on all night."

Sakura glared. "Get away from me!" she shouted, pushing against him. "Let me go you jerk!!"

"Feisty little thing, aren't ya?" the man growled, grabbing her wrists to restrain her. "Don't worry babe, I'll be careful with ya."

Sakura found herself forced up against the wall, her head smacking against the alley wall with a sickening crack in the process. Emitting a whimper of pain, Sakura watched helpless as the world around her became one huge blur. She was sure that she was going to get sick or faint. Maybe both.

She could feel the man's lecherous hands everywhere on her. Traveling up under her shirt and her skirt while his lips started a brutal assault on her neck.

"Let me go," Sakura screamed, clawing against his chest.

.

Suddenly, Sakura felt the man's hold on her leave and she slid down to the dirty, alley floor with noting to support her anymore. Blinking, she tried to focus what was happening but all she could see where two shadows of the people standing in front of her. One was on the ground while the other one was standing, a menacing aura about him. There were voices too. Someone was talking but she could only actually understand two sentences.

"Stay away from her," a voice said with obvious threat. "She's my prey."

Then there were more incoherent words said before the man on the ground stood and ran away. Her savior watched him go before turning towards her and coming closer.

"Hey," he said, kicking her boot with his own foot.

Sakura's response was to groan and she heard a sigh from the person in front of her as he bent down to look her in the eye. Sakura could focus on him then. His red hair was sweeping into his eyes and his deep brown eyes were now starring at her with absolute disgust.

It was Sasori. Her savior was Sasori.

"Are you drunk?" he asked, eyeing her with repulsion.

Sakura quickly shook her head, no.

Sasori inclined his head towards her own, sniffing slightly. "You're lying," he said, pulling back. "You reek of alcohol."

Using the alley wall behind her, Sakura pushed herself to her feet. She felt herself sway slightly and if it hadn't been for Sasori grabbing her elbow to steady her, she was sure that she would have found herself back on the ground. She wasn't grateful though for his help. Instead, she felt that he was way too close for her and putting her hands on his chest, she gave him a pathetic attempt of a push.

"Stay away from me," she mumbled.

Sasori did the opposite as his hands slammed down on either side of her head against the wall, causing her to flinch. "Don't I even get a thank you?" he glared. "Do you know what he would have done to you if I hadn't interfered?" The way he asked it wasn't like how Naruto would with concern in his voice. Sasori had just asked it, wondering if she knew.

Sakura managed a glare for him. "Yes. I'm not stupid. I know exactly what he would have done to me."

"Then why did you allow yourself to get into that kind of situation."

"Who are you?" Sakura asked. "My mother?"

Sasori came closer to her until there noses were almost touching. "No," he told her. "I'm a hunter and you're my prey. You're not that guy's or anyone else's. Just mine."

"No! I don't belong to you."

"You need to learn to obey," he told her before his lips came crashing down on her own.

Sakura's eyes widened and she emitted a squeal of surprise as she started to struggle against his body that was pinning her. She began to beat down on his chest and annoyed by her actions, Sasori restrained her arms. He bit down onto her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and it caused Sakura to gasp. Taking advantage, the puppet master slipped his tongue in, starting to ravage her mouth, leaving no place unexplored. Defiantly, Sakura bit him and he pulled back to glare.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Punishing you," he answered as he moved her wrists into one of his hands, letting his other roam down to her black blouse, undoing the first button. Clod air rushed in, hitting her skin causing goose bumps to rise.

"St-Stop it," Sakura ordered, trying to break from his hold. "Stop it now!"

"No," Sasori said, undoing another button. "You were about to do this with that man so why can't you do it with me?"

He continued in his task of removing her shirt until it was fully open, revealing her black lacy bra and her toned stomach to him. His eyes roamed, drinking in her figure in before looking up at her face, seeing a blush that was starting to stain her cheeks.

"Bastard," she spat out at him.

"Again with the name calling," he sighed. "Your punishment will be worse if you're rude."

To prove himself, he leaned in and pushed the silky material of her shirt of her shoulder before starting to nip and suck torturously there. His hand traveled lazily up and down bare side, tracing dizzying circles as it went and Sakura had to force herself to suppress a small moan.

"You're mine," she heard him whisper against her skin. "My prey…"

Sakura looked up at the moon that was peeking out behind some clouds and focused all of her attention on it. She didn't want to see the scene in front of her anymore. She wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else and that's what she pretended as she continued to stare at the big white orb high in the sky.

Sasori stopped kissing her shoulder, taking notice that his victim's attention was no longer on him. Angry, he grabbed her chin, tilting her face so she was forced to meet his eyes. "Say it," he ordered, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Say that you are mine. That you are my prey."

Sakura closed her eyes, refusing to give in to him.

Sighing, Sasori leaned again and breathed against her neck as he let his fingers travel lower on to the waistband of skirt. "If you say it," he whispered with a tug on the piece of clothing. "I'll stop."

Wanting just that, Sakura breathed out, "I'm yours."

She felt Sasori smirk against her shoulder. "You're what?" he asked just to torture her a bit further.

"…I'm your prey."

"Good girl," Sasori said, and Sakura felt cold air rush in as his body stepped back. "You learn fast," he told her. His hand reached out, touching her shoulder where he'd been assaulting her and Sakura saw to her horror that a red mark had formed there. "My mark," Sasori whispered, tracing it. "To show everyone else my claim on you." His eyes clashed with hers. "Don't you dare cover it up, understand? Or next time, I'll leave more than just one mark."

With those words said, he disappeared in front of her eyes; leaving Sakura all alone and she allowed her tears to cascade freely down her cheeks.

* * *

So it's a twisted verison of fluff but I still think it's good and I have another question. Because of the content of this chapter, should the rating on this fic go up? Please review and tell me!

And, also, just to let you guys now. I'm going to visit my family for a bit in Vegas and I'll be taking my laptop with me but I don't know if I can update that fast. I will sure try though!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Hi there. Sorry about the lateness of this chapter but it's long one so I think that makes up for it a bit. I did bump the rating up too just cause I wanted to be safe. Then also, some credit goes to overlordofnobodies because he gave me the awesome idea of instead of Sasori just giving Sakura a regular hickey, he'd give her a brand that's on all his puppets. Thanks for that and also to all of the reviewers. I'm almost at a hundred for this fic so gian hugs for all of you. And now, onto the chapter.

* * *

In a dark alley among the streets of Konoha, Sakura's form could be seen on the slimy ground, her body shaking with heavy sobs. Up high above her head, the moon's light illuminated her dirty, tear streaked cheeks and her puffy eyes.

_Calm down. Calm down. Calm down._

She repeated the two words like a mantra in her head, trying to regain control of her body and mind.

_...Can't stay here. He might come back._

The thought of Sasori coming back to _finish _what he had started was enough to force Sakura to peel herself off the alley floor and get to her feet. She tried to calm her erratic breathing as she rubbed at her eyes, drying her tears but smudging her mascara worse. She started on her blouse next, buttoning it back up but due to her shaking fingers, the task proved harder than it should have been so all the buttons ended up in the wrong holes.

She barely noticed though. Instead, she opened the door to club and stumbled back in.

Inside, the music was still blasting loudly away through the speakers like nothing had happened and couples were filling the floor, either dancing or flirting. Sakura started to push her way through them, bumping into several irritated people in the process but she didn't stop to apologize. Her only care was to get out of there and go home.

Finally finding the front door, she slipped outside into the cold night air which rushed to surrond her. Goose bumps began to rise along the flesh of her arms and legs as she started to trudge away from the club. Looking around, she found that she was the only one walking along the deserted street and her thoughts started to wander to what ifs.

_What if someone got her now? Would anyone be around to hear her scream. Would anyone even help?_

She stopped under a lampost; it's fluresant light shining down onto her head and swollowed hard as she stared ahead at the corner she had to turn.

_Was Sasori waiting there for her? _

Freezing, she was sure that she heard someone chuckle in her ear and she whipped around, expecting to see the pupoet master standing there but she was met with just thin air. The feeling that she was constantly being watched started to make her skin crawl and unconsciously, she began to start at a fast walking pace until she was almost running. Rounding a building, she slammed into something solid and shrieked when she felt it grab her.

"No!" she screamed. "No! Let me go!"

"Sakura?" a deep male's voice asked.

Sakura's heart began to pound with fear. "No! Leave me alone," she shouted now hysterical. Her fists started beat furiously against the person's chest as she tried to free herself from them. "No!"

"Sakura, it's me," the voice told her. "Kiba."

Sakura stopped. "K-Kiba," she breathed out shakily. Looking up, she studied the familiar face.

Kiba's grip on her arms tightened as he asked, "What happened to you?"

"Kiba." Sakura repeated the boy's name out loud, testing it on her lips. Kiba was safe. He wouldn't hurt her. "Kiba," she said again, slumping against his form.

The boy stiffened. "Oi! Sakura!" he shook her. "Oi!"

Sakura's nails dug into his shirt. "I'm sorry."

Kiba looked down at her, his brown eyes filled with confusion. "What are you sorry about?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she continued to slur out, not in her right mind.

"Calm down!" the boy ordered, trying to help her get a grip. "Tell me what you're sorry about."

_For cheating on you. For being so horrible to you._

Sakura's tears started to flow freely out of her eyes again and she started to blubber out her words.

"...Sakura, calm down," Kiba ordered again but she did the exact opposite and sobbed into his chest. They stood like that for a couple moments until she felt herself being lifted off her feet as he picked her up bridal style. "Come on," Kiba whispered, starting to carry her.

She buried her head against him, still mumbling her apologizes.

"I'm sorry," she weakly said one last time before she slowly drifted off to sleep in his arms.

-- -- --

Sakura's eyes opened slightly and blinked, meeting the sight of the ceiling high above her. She lay there like that for a short pause, letting all the events from the night before come back to her then looked around the room she was in.

A small amount of morning light was creeping through the crack in the blinds and the sound of the birds from outside chirping could be heard. She was on a bed with Kiba next to her only he was sitting up and leaning against the headboard for support. Sakura could feel the warmth from his hand that was resting lightly but still protectively on the lower half of her leg.

Moaning slightly, she sat up to get a better look at him.

His eyes were closed, showing that he was asleep and his mouth was slightly parted, allowing air to pass past his lips. He was still in his clothes that he'd been wearing the night before only now they were all rumpled from him sleeping in them.

"Kiba," she whispered softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Kiba."

The boy's eyes opened slowly at the sound of his name being called and gazed up at her lazily. "Sakura," he mumbled, reaching up to rub the sleep away from his eyes. "What time is it?"

Sakura spied the alarm clock on the night stand next to the bed. "Ten in the morning," she answered softly. On a normal day, she would already be at the hospital working her usual shift.

Yawning, Kiba sat up to his full height to look at her, his eyes turning serious. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Sakura nodded, feeling awkward. "I'm really sorry about last night," she whispered. "I went out with Ino last night and I guess things got a little out of hand."

Crazy was more like it but it wasn't like she could tell him that she'd almost been raped by a man who was supposed to be dead.

"Whatever," Kiba smiled with relief. "I'm just glad to see that you're back to your normal self."

_You don't deserve him_ a voice whispered softly in Sakura's head. Looking down into her lap, she muttered words of thanks for taking care of her.

Standing, Kiba got off the bed and streached. Looking down at her, he said, "If you want to clean up or take a shower or something, the bathroom's down the hall." He pointed in the derection. "I think there's extra towels in there too."

Taking him up in his offer, Sakura nodded with more words of thanks and stood before following his derections.

Walking in, she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. Left to herself, the images of what had happened the night before started to flood through her mind.

_His hands…they were everywhere. On her lips. Her shoulder. Her waist._

Sakura clamped her hands on each side of her head, trying to make them stop.

_So dirty. So wrong._

Turning the knobs of the shower, she started to run the water.

_His lips slammed down onto her own in a bruising kiss._

Quickly, Sakura stripped herself of her clothes that smelt of booze and cigarettes from her escapade from the night before. Stepping in, she closed the shower curtain.

_His fingers started on the buttons of her blouse, unhooking each one slowly while watching her face for her reaction until her bra and stomach were revealed to him._

Taking the washcloth and some soap, Sakura began to wash herself.

_He leaned in, pushing the silky material of her shirt off her shoulder and replaced it with his lips while his hand traced dizzy circles up and down her side, causing her to shiver._

Sakura's skin started to burn and turn red from all the abuse she was giving it from her intense scrubbing but still, she didn't stop.

_'Say it,' he breathed against her skin softly. 'Say that you are mine. That you are my prey.' His hand roamed down to her skirt and gave a hard tug. 'Say it and I'll stop.'_

Salty tears began to leak out of Sakura's eyes, mixing with the shower water as they ran freely down her cheeks.

_'I'm yours.'_

"I'm not…"Sakura whispered out, her voice raw from all her crying.

_'You're what?'_

_'I'm…your prey.'_

"I'm not!" Sakura said more forcefully this time, falling down onto her knees. "I'mnot.I'mnot.I'mnot…"

Warm water continued to pound away on her head as she wept, making her short pink hair stick to her cheeks. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she tried to stop the loud sobs from escaping.

"…Sakura," Kiba's voice called from the other side of the bathroom door with some knocks. "Are you okay? You've been in there a long time…"

Reaching up, Sakura turned the knobs to shut the water off. "I'm fine," she answered, cursing herself for how shrill her voice sounded. "I'll be out in a minute, okay."

After a couple of seconds, Sakura heard a grunt from Kiba and she was again, left alone.

Forcing herself to stand, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself before stepping out. Above the sink, she saw that the mirror had been fogged up from all the steam from the shower and taking her hand, she wiped one clean streak across it so she could see her reflection starring back at her.

Heavy, dark bags hung under eyes which looked almost dead and were puffy from all of her crying. Her cheeks which usually held a pink tinge were as pale as the moon and her wet hair hind limp around her face. All in all, she looked like a mess but none of that caught her attention. She was more focused on the hickey Sasori had left her as a present.

It looked…_different._

Definitely not how a love bite should look like.

Unconsciously, her hand traveled up to her shoulder to trace it while her eyes studied it closely. She could see faint lines beginning to peek out and darken. Almost like a design.

_'A little something to show other's that you are my prey and no one else's.'_

Sakura's blood froze as she finally realized what it was.

It wasn't a hickey. It was a brand and it wasn't just any. It was the one that he put on all of his puppets.

-- -- -- --

Sakura tagged behind Kiba, following him through the market place with Akamaru at her side. He'd asked her out for the rest of the day and after his heroic save last night, she couldn't just turn him down.

Together, they browsed through several stalls until Sakura attention was caught by the takoyaki stand. The aroma from the food drifted over, surronding her and unconsciously, she licked her lips.

"Are you hungry?" Kiba asked, catching her and nodded toward the food stand.

"No," Sakura lied, but her growling stomach gave her away.

Laughing, Kiba shook his head. "Go sit down and I'll go get some food."

_You don't deserve him. You don't deserve him. You don't deserve him._

Sakura nodded and did as told with Akamaru trailing behind her as they found a picnic table to sit at and wait. From afar, she watched as Kiba got in line at the takoyaki stand to order.

_You don't deserve him. He's too nice and sweet for someone like you who is just plain wicked. He deserves to be with someone better. Someone who wouldn't cheat on him. Someone who'd love him with all their heart._

Groaning, Sakura buried her head into her hands as her head started to throb.

Suddenly, she felt the weight of someone sit down next to her on the bench and she looked up, expecting to see Kiba there with the food but froze when she saw who it was instead.

"What's wrong?" Sasori asked, making a mock hurt face because of her repulsed reaction. "Not happy to see me?"

Sakura's response was to give him a glare and down by her feet, Akamaru sensed her sudden discomfort. Barring his teeth in obvious threat, he released a throaty warning growl towards the stranger.

Looking down at the animal, Sasori frowned. "Doesn't really look like I'm popular with the dogs," he mussed and Sakura saw something flash quickly in his eyes. Akamaru caught it too and immediately began to whine and back up behind Sakura. "I think I'm more of a cat person," Sasori joked, looking back at Sakura. He waited for her to say something, but when she didn't, he continued on. "Where's your usual snappish reply?" he asked. "Why are you so cold today or are you just shy because of what we _did_ last night?"

Sakura looked down in her lap, ashamed and wished Kiba would hurry.

"You know," Sasori started. "When having a conversation with someone, the polite thing to do is to answer them when they ask you a question."

Slamming her hands on the table, Sakura stood and gestured for Akamaru to follow her. Together, they walked over to another table to sit at while Sasori who was left at the old one, glared at her actions. Standing himself, he followed and took the place opposite of hers at the new table.

"Are you ignoring me?" he asked, sitting. When he didn't get a response, he added, "Well, that's not very nice."

Sakura stood up again and was about to repeat her actions of switching tables but Sasori reaching out and grabbing her wrist stopped her.

"I don't do well with being ignored," he told her icily, all playfulness now gone from his features. "So I suggest you don't do it."

"Let me go," Sakura whispered with malice. "Now."

"Ah, so she speaks," Sasori said smug. "Now sit down and talk with me." When Sakura made no move to follow his orders, he gave a hard tug on her wrist, pulling her forward and Sakura was forced to sit down less she lose her balance. Pleased, Sasori gave her a sick smile but didn't let go of her arm. "Now I want to ask you another question," he told her. "I want to know why you covered up my mark when I instructed you not to."

He glared at the heavy t-shirt that she was wearing and had borrowed from Kiba earlier that morning. She had picked it purposely, knowing that it would hide Sasori's brand well. She had been proud then for her defiance, but now, she was starting to regret it.

When Sakura made no move to answer his question, she suddenly felt the mark on her shoulder start to tingle until it was burning painfully. Reaching up with her free hand, she clutched at her chest, trying to get it to stop and her breathing became labored.

Smirking when he saw her wince slightly, Sasori ordered with pure authority, "Answer me."

A hand suddenly reached out, grabbing Sasori's arm and both looked up to see Kiba standing there, anger in his eyes. "Let her go," he ordered, nodding to the puppet master's firm grip on Sakura's wrist.

Sasori glared and let go of Sakura so he could shrug Kiba off. "We were talking," he said. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt other people's other conversations or are you as dumb as your dog?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "From what I could see, it didn't look like she wanted to talk to you."

"And how would you know if she wanted to talk to me or not?" Sasori asked. "What are you, her owner?"

"No. I'm her boyfriend."

Sakura watched as both guys continued to exchange dark looks and she could slowly feel the testosterone level start to rise. Knowing that there was going to be a fight if she didn't intervene, she stood and pulled on Kiba's jacket. "Let's go," she whispered. "He's just trying to make you angry."

Kiba allowed himself to be pulled a couple feet but Sasori wasn't about to let them go that easy.

"Do you even know what you're little girlfriend was doing last night?" Sasori said, leaning against the table casually.

Kiba stopped to look back at him and Sakura's heart missed a couple beats.

_No! Don't tell him! Don't tell him! Don't tell him!_

"What are you talking about now?" Kiba asked his eyes hard.

"I'm just saying that she isn't as innocent as you think."

_Stop it. Don't tell him._

"K-Kiba," Sakura pulled on his sleeve. "Come on."

"No. He's insulting you."

_How can it be an insult when he's trying to tell you the truth?_

"I'm not insulting her," Sasori voiced her thoughts. "I'm just telling the truth."

It was the final straw for Kiba. In two quick strides, he was in front of the puppet master, aiming a punch at his face but it only met with air as Sasori backed out of reach.

"Are you kidding me?" Sasori scoffed. "Can't even land a punch?"

Sakura saw the obvious blow to Kiba's pride and watched as her boyfriend threw another swing only to miss again. Sasori smirked, antagonizing Kiba even more.

"K-Kiba," Sakura said, trying to stop him. They were attracting an unwanted crowed. "Stop it!"

Kiba ignored her and kept on trying to land a hit. Putting out his foot, Sasori easily tripped him, sending Kiba flying into a picnic table, overturning it.

"You're worthless," the puppet master told his opponent, looking down at him. "You leave your defense wide open which makes it too easy for someone to land a hit and you have no patience, causing you to attack without thinking. You're lower than a bug and something that's not worth my time."

Kiba looked down, his bangs covering his eyes and Sakura knew how much Sasori's words stung.

The crowd parted for Sasori as he started to make his way towards Sakura. Stopping next to her, he leaned down to her height to whisper in her ear, "I'll be giving you a visit soon."

Then he was gone; walking past her and down the street. Sakura sent his back a glare before running over to Kiba's side.

"Are you okay," she asked, bending down next to him.

Kiba didn't answer but looked away from her instead with embarrassment. In the process, he revealed a nasty cut that ran along his cheek to her. Reaching up, she summoned the chakra to heal it but his hand catching her own stopped her.

"I'm fine," he said, pushing her hand away and standing.

"Kiba, I-"

"I have to go," Kiba cut her off. "I'll see you later."

Sakura opened her mouth, but nothing came out since she wasn't sure what to say. Instead, she watched as he walked away with Akamaru tailing. She didn't chase after him. A good girlfriend would have done that and that was something she knew she wasn't.

_You don't deserve him._

-- -- --

Sakura's eyes snapped open wide.

A noise. There had been a noise. She was sure of it.

She continued to lay there quietly in bed, listening hard as her hand slowly crept under her pillow for the kunai that she had started to keep there for emergencies. Her fingers wrapped around it tightly as she flew out of bed preparing to attack an intruder, but she found no one in the room besides herself. She wasn't going to let her guard down though. She knew from experience that Sasori had his way of hiding.

"Come out,' she ordered. "Now."

There was a moment of silence where the only thing Sakura could hear was her heart pounding away madly in her ears but then a voice whispered softly from behind her, "Boo!"

A white hot flash of pain shot from her brand on her shoulder. Forgetting all about the kunai, she dropped it on the floor with a clanging noise to and fell down to her kneesnext it. Clutching her chest, she moaned in agony and hot tears began to prick at her eyes as two feet came into her line of vision.

Looking up, she saw Sasori standing over her, a dark smile playing on his lips. Reaching down, he snatched her kunai and her elbow, hoisting her up to her feet. He threw her violently onto the bed and before she even had a chance to move, he pinned her down by straddling her. Taking her knife, he cut through the top half of her shirt, barring her shoulders to him. His eyes darkened when he saw the band-aids she had used to cover up his brand and angrily, he ripped them off with a quick swipe causing Sakura to flinch from the stinging pain.

"Much better," she heard him whisper as he eyed the sign that claimed his ownership over her. His hands went to trace it and his eyes met her own emerald ones as he said, "I told you before that if you covered it up, I'd be doing more than just leaving marks."

* * *

Sorry guys but I am going to cut it there cause I'm not exactly sure what I want to happen next. Was it good? Bad? Thanks for reading and please review!

And yeah, I'm back from Veagas and visiting my grandmother. She gave me an awesome omiagi which was a real Japanese Naruto manga book with Sasuke on the cover! Yes! But arh! School has started. SUMMER WENT TOO FAST! Because of school, updates will probably every other week from now on.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **Hi! I'm back again with chapter six! Hope you like it! Then thank you so much for all the reviews people! I'm so honored that you like my fic! I bow to you reviewers! I'm really sorry how long this took. I've been a little lazy lately and enjoyed procrastinating. I also had a hard time deciding on what I wanted to happen so that was what took most of the time. I really wanted Sasori to be cruel in this chapter. Once again, really sorry! I also recapped from the last chapter a bit cause of the long period between that one and this one!

Now onto the chapter...

* * *

Sakura's eyes snapped open wide.

A noise…There had been a noise. She was sure of it.

Still, she continued to lay there quietly in her bed, listening hard as her hand slowly crept under the pillow for the kunai that she had started to keep there for emergencies. Her delicate, thin fingers wrapped around the weapon tightly as she flew out of bed, preparing to attack an intruder but she found no on in the room besides herself.

She wasn't going to let her guard down though. She knew from plenty of experience that Sasori had his little ways of hiding.

"Come out…" she ordered. "Now!"

There was a long period of silence in which the only thing that Sakura could hear was her own heart beat pounding madly away in her ears but then a voice whispered softly from behind her, "Boo!"

Sakura prepared to turn around to face her enemy but a white, hot flash of pain shooting from the small brand on her shoulder stopped her. Forgetting all about the kunai in her hands, she dropped it on the floor with a clanging noise before falling down to her knees beside it. Clutching her chest, she moaned in agony as the pain coursed through every inch of her body and hot tears began to prick at her eyes as two feet came into her line of vision.

Looking up, she saw Sasori hovering over her with one of his dark smiles playing on his lips. Reaching down, he snatched her kunai off the floor and twirled it between his fingers before grabbing her elbow, hoisting her up to her feet. He threw her violently on the bed and before Sakura even had a chance to move, he was pinning her down by straddling her. Taking her knife, he easily cut through the top half of her night shirt, barring her shoulders to him. His eyes darkened when he saw the band-aids she had used to cover up his mark and angrily, he ripped them off with a quick swipe, causing Sakura to flinch from the stinging pain.

"Much better," she heard him whisper as he eyed the sign that claimed his ownership over her and his hands traveled down to trace it. "I told you…" he continued on and his light, brown eyes clashed with her own emerald ones. "That if you covered it up, I'd be leaving more than one mark next time."

Suddenly one of his fingers that had been tracing softly over her skin pressed down hard on the brand and a flash of agony was sent through Sakura's already throbbing body. Closing her eyes, she held back a small whimper that badly wanted to escape from behind her lips and she fisted her hands into the sheets on the bed under her.

Above, Sasori watched with one of his signature smirks on his lips as the girl withered under him in misery. "Hurts, doesn't it?" he teased before repeating his actions.

Several more painful tremors racked Sakura's body and she didn't have the control anymore to hold a small scream back. More tears began to gather around the corners of her eyes and she watched the puppet master through a blurry vision as her breathing turned labored.

She knew then that if this torturing was to keep up; she was going to pass out soon.

In attempt to get the puppet master off of her, Sakura drew her right arm back, meaning to send him one of her signature punches but Sasori simply pulled back in time before her fist could collide with his smug face. Quickly he grabbed her wrist to restrain her incase she got any more ideas to try it again but before Sasori could get a hold on her other arm, she was already making her move.

Successfully, Sakura's nails managed to catch the skin on Sasori's cheek, breaking it which sent a small bit of satisfaction creeping through Sakura's body until the most painful bolt yet interrupted it.

This time, a full on scream was released from the rosette haired girl's mouth as her body shook and taking his chance, Sasori easily snatched both of her wrists which he held up over her head in one of his hands.

As the wave of agony began to die down, Sakura felt something wet land on her face. The wetness created a small trail down the smooth skin of her cheek before landing on the sheets, staining it red. Sakura watched as more blood fell from four little small, tiny scratches that her nails had managed to create on Sasori's face. The little droplets continued to drip onto her; the dark red liquid clashing drastically with the paleness of her skin.

Using his shirt sleeve, the puppet master tried his best to wipe the blood off of himself only to end up smearing the red liquid all over his own clothes and across his cheek. Seeing the stains, he gave Sakura a dark glare.

"You should know by now," he whispered as he leaned in close enough for his breath to tickle her face. "That you should behave if you want to live longer."

Through her fear, Sakura managed to conjure up a glare for the puppet master. "And you should know by now that I'm not the kind of girl who just sits and takes her punishment," she shot back.

Sasori chuckled at her words. "Still defiant, I see," he observed. "I guess I'm not doing a good enough job at breaking you if you still have the courage to snap back at me like that. I'll just have to try harder..."

At his words, Sakura tried to renew her attempts at getting free but was unsuccessful in them.

"So where do you think I should leave my marks for everyone to see," Sasori mused aloud. "How about one here…"

His free hand ran along her neck and Sakura suddenly felt a sharp sting there as if she were being stung by a bee. Clenching her eyes shut, Sakura pressed her head further into the pillow, moaning.

Sasori smirked at her reaction. "And another one here…"

This time, he touched Sakura's arm sending another prick her way.

"Stop," she breathed out.

"Why?" Sasori questioned. "You knew the punishment for defying me and yet you still did. Don't you think you deserve this then?"

Sakura felt another sting travel up her leg and she bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood but the puppet master still kept up his torture.

_More touching. More stinging. More screaming._

Sasori's fingers lifted the bottom of her shirt up as he prepared to leave more of his brands on her. With her stomach revealed to him, his eyes took it in until they stopped at a point just left of her navel where a small, fading pink scar about four inches long marred her pale skin.

"This…" Sasori trailed off as he recognized it as something he had given her in their previous battle. His hand ran over it softly, sending a small shiver to run up Sakura's spine.

"St-Stop it!" she shouted, not liking the new feeling at all.

"Why?" Sasori questioned as his fingers continued to trace little circles around the scar. "Your body seems to be enjoying itself."

"Stop it now!" Sakura shouted in a harsher voice.

Amazingly, Sasori halted in his ministrations to study her for a few moments until his eyes suddenly lit up. "You haven't let anyone touch you like this before, have you," he jeered.

Sakura glared at his words but her cheeks turned slightly pink. Her actions were enough of a response.

Sasori gave her one of his playful smirks. "Let me guess," he snickered. "Saving yourself for the Uchiha if he comes back?"

Sakura's eyes darkened at his words.

"But if you love the stupid Uchiha so much, why are you with that dog boy?" Sasori probed.

"It's none of your business!" Sakura shouted.

The puppet master tipped his head like a child does when curious. "…You know," he started after a moment of silence. "In some ways, you're just like me."

Sakura's mouth opened in shock. "I am nothing like you!"

"You are," Sasori insisted. "You enjoy playing with people too."

"I do no such thing!"

"I play with people as toys to amuse myself," the puppet master continued on as if he had not heard her defiant words. "But you…You like to play with people's emotions."

"I don't!"

"Really?" Sasori asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're doing it now as you speak with that dog boy. You're just playing with him until your dear little Uchiha comes back to you."

Sakura's eyes widened. "That's not true!"

"If it's not, then you must love the dog boy, right?"

"I…"Sakura trailed off until her eyes hardened. "I don't have to answer to you!"

The puppet master scoffed. "Face it," he told her. "You're just playing with dog until the Uchiha comes back and then you're hoping that he'll finally notice you. Finally acknowledge you. Finally _love_ you. It's quite a foolish, little girl's hope."

The rosette haired girl's eyes flared dangerously. "Shut up!"

Sasori's eyes lost their playful gleam and were replaced by something cold and hard. "The prey doesn't order the predator," he whispered. "Just for that, maybe I should punish you further." Placing one of his hands on her thigh, he smirked at her. "Tell me…Do you think the Uchiha would have anything to do with you if you'd already been claimed by another man?" he mused aloud.

The young kunochi's eye widened when she realized the meaning of his words and her body started to thrash violently against his as she unsuccessfully tried to throw the puppet master off of her. "Stop it!" she shouted. "Get off! Don't touch me!"

Sasori chuckled at her weak attempts and leaned in closer to her. "…You're so pathetic," he breathed out and then suddenly, his weight was leaving her as he was standing up. Hovering over her, he grabbed her chin so she was forced to look up and meet his cold gaze. "Don't flatter yourself," he told her. "I have no such sexual interest in your scrawny body. The only thing I desire from you is revenge." His grip loosened on her chin as his eyes left her face to roam over the rest of her. "Now let's see you try to hide all of those," he smirked confidently.

Sakura's eyes followed his gaze as she looked down at herself and gasped. Angry, red marks covered her everywhere. On her arms. Her legs. Her stomach and the outlines of the puppet master's brand was already beginning to peek through.

Horrified, she looked up expecting to see Sasori standing there but the place he had occupied was now empty. The blowing drapes in front of the open window showed the route of his escape and a sudden cold gust of wind blew into the room, sending goose bumps to rise along Sakura's skin.

**-As-If-Happy-Endings-Exist-**

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

Sakura who was sitting on the middle of the bed wearing a blanket almost like a cloak looked towards the door. Flopping onto her back, she turned away from it and groaned out to whoever it was paying her a visit, "Go away...Just leave me alone…"

"Sakura!" a voice that the rosette haired girl recognized as Ino's called from the other side of the door. "Come and open up!" Her words were followed by more persistent banging noises.

"Go away!" Sakura shouted, not in the mood to see anyone at the moment. Grabbing her pillow, she pressed it over her head to drown out the sound of the loud knocks but it failed to drown out Ino's following screams.

"Go away?!" Ino screeched. "Is that what you just told me to do? Do you even know how damn hard it was for me to find you in the first place? I went to your apartment but you weren't there and when I questioned your landlord, he told me that you've been staying in a motel for the last week. Do you even know how many hotels there are in Konoha, Sakura? Do you have any idea? I've spent my whole damn morning looking for you so you better open the hell up!"

"Sa-Sakura," a meeker voice that belonged to Hinata called out. "I really think you should open the door or Ino will likely tear it down."

Sakura continued to lay motionless in bed, wondering if Ino would really do it.

"Sakura!" the blonde screamed, "I'm going to count to three and if you don't answer the door, so help me, I'll…"

Ino didn't finish her threat but Sakura imagined that it involved more yelling, banging, and would probably result in a broken door that she would have to pay the motel for later which was something she really didn't have the funds for at the moment.

"_One…"_ Ino began to count out loud. "_Two_…"

Sighing, Sakura pushed off her blanket and got off the bed. Her bare feet padded across the floor as she opened the door right as her friend said 'three'.

"Well, it's about damn time!" Ino snapped with a glare.

"Hi to you too," Sakura shot right back.

"Good afternoon,'" Hinata greeted Sakura more politely behind the blonde with a shy smile.

"Move it!" Ino grunted as she pushed past Sakura, dragging Hinata by the hand with her into the small room.

"Yeah…go ahead and just come right in." Sakura grumbled under her breath, annoyed. She closed the door before turning around to meet with her friends curious stares. "What?" she asked defensively.

"You look like crap," the blonde responded bluntly.

Sakura frowned. "Thanks for the compliment," she said sarcastically.

"Anytime."

"…Umm…What's that?" Hinata asked, pointing to Sakura's neck where one of Sasori's new brands resided.

"It's nothing," Sakura said quickly as she hid the mark by pulling her hair forwards to cover it up. "It's just a bug bite." Eager to get the attention away from her, she asked, "Why are you two here anyway?"

Ino looked towards Hinata and pushed her forwards a bit. "Well, go on and tell her," the blonde urged. "Tell her what you told me."

"Tell me what?"

Hinata looked towards Sakura. "We-Well…" she started, shifting from foot to foot. "It's about Kiba-kun."

Sakura let out a sigh before shooting Ino a look. "You know, you should really stop trying to play matchmaker," she told her friend through gritted teeth as she sat back down on the bed.

"I'm not!" Ino denied angrily. "Just shut up so Hinata can finish!"

Obediently, Sakura did as told and looked towards Hinata, waiting for her to continue on.

"Well, Kiba-kun…" the raven haired kunochi started. "He's…He's been acting really strange since yesterday…"

"What do you mean he's been acting strange?" Sakura asked, confused.

"He hasn't left the training field since yesterday," Ino answered for Hinata. "And he's been training non-stop since then too."

"When I asked him why," Hinata cut in, "he told me 'not to worry about it' but Shino-kun told me that Kiba-kun even trained through the night with hardly any breaks. I'm worried that if he keeps this up…he might get sick from exhaustion."

"So, we were thinking you could go talk to him and make him stop," Ino explained her brilliant idea and the whole reason for them being there.

"…I don't think he'd want to me right now," Sakura told them, recalling the day before at the marketplace and how Kiba had angrily brushed her off after his fight with Sasori.

"Why?" Ino asked. "Did you two get into a fight or something?"

"I…Not exactly."

"Then good!" the blonde smiled brilliantly. "You can go talk to him!

"What?"

"Just go and see if you can get him to stop," Ino said. Quickly, she looked Sakura up and down. "But first, you need to change. You can't go in your pajamas."

The blonde walked over to Sakura's suitcase that rested by the television stand and began to pick through it. Anything that didn't suit her taste was thrown on the floor which ended up being most of the clothes.

"Hey! W-Wait!" Sakura protested, standing. "Stop it!"

Sakura's protests weren't heard though because once Ino set her mind on something, there was no stopping her.

**-As-If-Happy-Endings-Exist-**

Akamaru's ears twitched as the sound of light footsteps coming down the path towards the training field where he and Kiba resided. Sniffing the air, he barked happily as he recognized the scent of the person drawing nearer to them. Kiba sensed her approach too and stopped his training to stiffen. Looking towards the trees, he could already see the girl's figure emerging. At the sight of her, Akamaru eagerly started for her at a fast trot while his master loitered slowly behind.

"Hey," Sakura smiled when the dog reached her and she bent down to scratch behind his ears to which Akamaru responded with a fond lick of her hand. Sakura smiled before looking up to see that Kiba had joined them. Standing, she gave him an awkward smile. "Hi…" she greeted nervously.

"Hey…"

"Umm…Here." Sakura offered out her hand which held a bottle of water. "I though you might be thirty."

Kiba's eyes lit up in surprise before a small smile crossed his face. "Thanks," he told her, accepting her gift. "What's that?" he asked, nodding towards the bandage that was bound tightly around the wrist of Sakura's out stretched hand.

Quickly, Sakura hid it behind her back. "It's nothing," she said, not wanting him to know the bandage was hiding yet another brand. "It's just a little rash."

It was really a pathetic lie and Kiba's frown and lingering look told her he knew exactly what she was up to. Still, he didn't call her on it and instead, he chose to sit down on the grassy floor. Leaning back, he took a swig of the cool drink while Sakura shifted from foot to foot nervously until deciding to sit down next to him. Akamaru immediately claimed the spot on her other side and laid his head in her lap; eager for any attention she was willing to give to him. Sakura obliged, petting his head softly and together, the three sat in silence for several awkward moments.

"…So why did you come here?" Kiba finally asked.

Sakura turned to look at him and saw that he was glaring out at the scenery of the training field that lay out before them. "I…" she started. "Hinata told me that you've been out here since yesterday, training non st-

"Hinata should know when to keep quiet," Kiba interrupted.

"She's just worried about you," Sakura snapped, feeling the need to defend her friend. "We're all worried about you."

"Thanks again for the drink," Kiba said, ignoring her words. Standing, he put his hands over his head, stretching. "But I have to get back to training now," he continued on. "Akamaru…"

Reluctantly, Akamaru left his cozy spot next to Sakura and followed as commanded while Sakura stood up to glare at her boyfriend's back.

"Why are you training so hard suddenly?" she shouted, refusing to let him get away. "Don't brush me off like that. Just tell me why!"

"Don't worry about it," Kiba said over his shoulder. "I'll talk to you later, kay?"

Sakura huffed and kicked a rock in frustration, sending it flying. "What the heck is his problem?" she whispered under her breath so only she could hear. "He doesn't have any reason to be acting like th-

_'You're worthless. You leave your defense wide open which makes it too easy for someone to land a hit and you have no patience, causing you to attack without thinking. You're lower than a bug and something that's not worth my time."_

Suddenly, the words that Sasori had said to Kiba the day before came back to Sakura. Her eyes widened with understanding and she started after Kiba.

"Wait!" she shouted. She rounded in front of Kiba making him stop and face her. "Are you doing this because of what _he _said to you yesterday?" she asked.

Kiba pushed past her, not answering and his actions were enough of an answer.

"You don't have to push yourself so hard just because of what some jerk said!" Sakura shouted at his back.

Kiba whipped around to glare at her. "That's just it!" he said. "I do!"

_"Why?"_

"Because."

Sakura sighed, irritated with him not answering. "_Because why_?"

"Because I want to protect you!" Kiba shouted.

His words echoed around the small clearing, scarring off several birds who had been sitting in a nearby tree but the two hardly even noticed.

"I want to protect you…"Kiba said again, his cheeks turning slightly red. "I want to protect you from people like that guy from yesterday!"

Sakura remained silent, not sure what to say to him and Kiba took his chance to continue on.

"I want you to be honest with me!" he shouted. "Who is that man?"

"H-He's…" Sakura mumbled.

_Do you really think that they would believe you if you told them, that me, a dead man was in your apartment? That's right. They wouldn't. They'd think you'd lost it and you'd be locked up in that little hospital that you work at for life._

"Who is he?" Kiba shouted. "And don't lie to me!"

_You don't deserve him. You don't deserve him. You don't deserve him._

"Kiba…" Sakura whispered, looking down at her feet. "I have to tell you something…"

_In some ways you're just like me…_

"What?"

_You're just playing around with the dog until your dear, little Uchiha comes back…_

"I think…I think we should break up."

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Good? Bad? Please review and tell me! I'm so happy to have this chapter done. It was the hardest one yet! Thank you and sorry for the wait for it. I'm also thinking about maybe doing another SasoSaku fic since I got another idea. Tell me what ya think, please!

Also, don't forget to go and vote in my poll for the hottest guy from Naruto! Sasuke is kicking everyone's ass (not that I mind that since he is my fav) but let's have a little competition here. Deidara and Naruto only have one vote each! Poor guys!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Title: **Be Sure to Watch Your Friend's Backs  
**Words Count: **5,149  
**Author's Note: **I know. I know. I'm the queen of procrastination. Do feel free to throw rocks at me for this really late chapter and please forgive me for my wretched laziness. It's just that for some reason, I found writing the whole breaking up scene with Kiba and Sakura terribly hard fro some reason. I don't know why. Probably because it didn't have any Sasori in it. Anyways, I'll just try to get the future chapters out faster. Thank you to all of those who are sticking with me and with this fic. Also the question whether this is a Sasori/Sakura fic or a Kiba/Sakura fic has been asked a lot lately by reviewers so just to let everyone know, this is a Sasori/Sakura fic! Not a Kiba/Sakura fic. I'm sorry if that's not want you wanted and now, here's chapter seven. Please tell me if there's like a major error in their somewhere because I'm just so paranoid even though I proof read it a bunch of times. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it and cookies for all of the people who review!

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**-As-If-Happy-Endings**-Exist-

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_'I think we should break up…'_

Those six, little words that Sakura had just whispered, bounced off the surrounding trees before echoing around the small, shadowed clearing that was the training field; the place where both she and Kiba stood, facing each other.

"…What?"

Sakura took a tiny, shaky breath of the mild spring air before deciding to repeat herself once more. "I think we should break up," she said, trying her best to make sure that her voice sounded strong and confident as she spoke the words.

A slight breeze passed through the training field then, causing short, soft strands of pink hair to blow into Sakura's face. Brushing it back into place, she hugged her red coat tighter around her small form as she softly bit down on her bottom lip in anticipation of what was to come next. In silence, she watched the boy in front of her closely as he shifted from foot to foot with a confused expression evident on his features.

"…Why?" Kiba finally asked, his voice cracking on the single word.

Sakura licked her dry, chapped lips nervously. "Because…"

_Because I'm scared that he's going to try and hurt you if we continue this relationship and that's the last thing I want. Because I don't know if I'm strong enough to protect you from him. Because you're too sweet and you don't need these kind of problems. Because if we break this off, you're safe. _

"Because…" Sakura repeated the word again. "This is just for the better…"

"For the better…?" Kiba said her sentence over only his voice was filled with misunderstanding as he spoke the words. "I don't get it. What do you mean by for the better?"

"I-It's just…" Sakura trailed off in her sentence, trying to find the right words to say.

_'Do you really think that any of your silly friends would believe you if you ever told them that me, a dead man was in your apartment? That's right. They wouldn't. They'd think that you lost your mind and you'd be locked up in that little hospital you work at for life.' _

A small frustrated sigh escaped from Sakura's lips. "It's all just really hard to explain."

"But I still want to hear it," Kiba shot back while his dark and calculating brown eyes studied her face closely. "You can't just say that you want to break up and not offer a full explanation as to why."

"I-It's just…I don't w-want…" Sakura found herself stumbling over her words as her mind raced for something to say. Looking down at her feet, she tried to hide her face as her cheeks flared a slight pinkish color from embarrassment and frustration.

A few feet away, Kiba stood, still waiting patiently for her explanation. When several more moments of deafening silence passed, he decided to offer, "Did I do something to make you angry at me?"

"No!" Sakura denied hurriedly as her green eyes glanced back up to meet his own. "That's not it at all!"

_Don't think this is your fault. That's the last thing this is…_

"Did…Did I do something wrong?"

"No! Of course not!"

_Please don't It's all his. Not yours. _

Kiba's shoulders slumped slightly as he let out a heavy sigh that was obviously filled with confusion and exasperation. Sticking his hands in his jean pockets, he looked down at his own two feet. "Is this…" he started as he scuffed his right foot against the grassy floor, sending several pebbles skittering away. "Is this because of Sasuke? Because of the feelings you had…have for him?"

"N-No," Sakura breathed out. "…This isn't…because of _him."_

"Then what is this about?" Kiba asked harshly as he glanced back up at her. "What else is there?"

"I can't…I can't tell you," Sakura told him truthfully.

"You can't…tell me?"

"No."

"Why?" Kiba demanded as he took a few steps towards Sakura and in turn she took several back. "Why can't you tell me?"

"I just can't!" Sakura yelled as she continued to back up a couple more feet, trying to put more distance between them.

"Wait!" Kiba ordered, seeing what she was trying to do. Reaching out, he managed to grab a hold of her right arm, preventing her from retreating anymore than she already had. Seizing her other arm, he forced her to fully face him as he asked, "What's really going on here?" Why can't you tell me?"

_Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! _

Kiba's hard stare was too much for Sakura and she turned her head away from him. "Let me go," she whispered softly to him but there was no mistaking the solid command in her voice.

"No!" Kiba objected loudly and his grip only tightened instead of loosening.

_Let go! Let go! Let go!_

"Not yet. Not before you tell me what's really going on here!"

Putting her hands up against his chest, Sakura gave Kiba a halfhearted push as she demanded in a slightly louder tone than she had used before, "Let go of me!"

Her words and push barely had any effect though as Kiba held on firmly. "No. I won't let go. Not before you tell me."

_Let me go or I'll have to hurt you myself…_

Kiba's eyes hardened as he continued to press, "Tell me why!"

"Fine!" Sakura suddenly screamed as she looked back up to meet his gaze. "If you want to know so badly, I'll tell you! It's because I hate this! This stupid relationship! It isn't right! We aren't right! I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I agreed to go out with you. I hate this! I hate this! _I hate this_!"

As soon as all the words were out of her mouth, Sakura instantly felt Kiba's grip loosen until his hands left her arms altogether. Backing away, he put a several foot's distance between him and her.

"…K-Kiba?" Sakura asked softly, trying to get a good view of his face but his bangs blocked his eyes, preventing her from what she wanted.

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. _

"Kiba?" she questioned once more with a louder tone. "…I-

"All right…" Kiba's voice cut her off as his eyes looked to meet her own. "It's alright. If you want to break up, it's okay," he continued, a small strained smile making its way to his lips.

_Oh God. I'm so sorry!_

"If you want to go back to just being friends…I'm good with that," he finished.

Sakura's mouth opened but she quickly closed it again when she found she didn't know what to say.

"It's okay," Kiba reassured, leaning to his left as he tried to act as casual as possible though it didn't work.

"I…I'm sorry," Sakura whispered hastily before she turned and took her leave from the scene as she started back up the beaten path that led out of the training field.

_This is for the better…_

Kiba's hard stare burned into her retreating back but she didn't have the nerve to glance back at him.

_I'm so sorry…_

Sakura could feel the slight sting of tears in her eyes and angrily she reached up and brushed them away quickly as soon as she fell out of Kiba's sight at the edge of the clearing.

_But you won't get hurt this was. He won't get you. You'll be safe…I promise that I'll make it up to you someday and I'll tell you the truth…I didn't mean to hurt you…_

A small rustling suddenly sounded from the right of the path caused Sakura to stop in her tracks. Glancing to her side, she watched as Ino who was pulling a red faced Hinata along by the arm spring out from behind a thick tree where they had obviously been hiding behind and trying their best to eavesdrop.

Sakura sent them both a stiff glare before continuing to walk away but her blonde friend was quick to fall into step beside her. Loudly, Ino groaned, "What the _hell_ did you just do, stupid?"

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**-As-If-Happy-Endings-**Exist-

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Sakura sighed heavily as she started down into the small glass that stood before her on the counter which was now only half full of its contents. A slightly confused look crossed her face as she wondered where the other half had gone so quickly.

Around her, conversation which came from near by tables packed with people filled the air, as did a seemingly never ending, crappy song that had a scratchy woman's voice singing along with it which played through the must have been decade old speakers. The place stank of grease from the food that Sakura hadn't dared to order and cologne from guys who were wearing too much of it but didn't notice since they were too busy trying to pick up girls.

Next to her, sat the two people who were responsible for dragging her to such a stupid place and both of them were waiting anxiously to hear how she had so easily managed to screw up her love life.

Another loud groan escaped from Sakura's lips as Ino who sat in the chair to her right screeched noisily in outrage, "I can't believe you broke up with him!"

"I-Ino…" Hinata whispered quietly as she noticed several people had turned to look over with interest at the blonde's little outburst. "I think…you're being slightly too loud."

"I told you to go and talk to the boy and see what was wrong with him," Ino continued with the same earsplitting pitch as before, ignoring her friend's words. "When did I ever say anything about breaking up with him!?"

Sakura did her best to drown out the blonde's yelling as she reached up to let her fingers massage her temples softly where she could fell a terrible headache starting to pound away.

"And I don't get it," Ino continued to nag. "You only talked to him for not even five minutes. I can't understand the amount of damage that you managed to do in that short amount of time. I swear that it's like a record!"

"Ino," Hinata piped in again, tugging at the blonde's shirt sleeve. "S-Some people are starting to stare…"

Ino turned towards the dark haired girl who sat next to her, annoyance marking her features before she glared over her shoulder at the small audience she had managed to attract within the bar. "Ah, just ignore them," the blond told Hinata as she faced forward in her seat once more. "If they want to stare, just let them, and you need to learn to relax more," she began to chide her friend. "You're in a bar! Instead of worrying about silly idiots who can't mind their own business, you should be drinking and having-

"Don't be stupid," Sakura cut in. "Neji would have your head if he knew that you ever even encouraged Hinata to drink."

The blonde, young woman glared at her friends words. "And as if I'm scared _him_," she scoffed loudly before picking up her own drink and taking a long sip of it. Slamming it back down on the table, she sighed before declaring, "I'm curious! Does this break up between you and Kiba have anything to do with Sasuke, hmm…?"

Now it was Sakura's turn to get angry. "No!" she denied, giving a nasty look. "Not everything in my love life involves around a man who isn't even here anymore!"

Ino eyed Sakura with a look that told her that she obviously wasn't buying it, but still the blond looked down into her drink as she continued, "Well if it's not _him,_ then why would you break up with Kiba? He's a nice guy and he seemed to like you a whole lot. Not to mention, he isn't exactly lacking in the looks department…Why would you do it?"

"Because, this is just for the better," Sakura stated, sticking by her sentence.

"For the better…?" Ino repeated having the same reaction as Kiba had had earlier. "But…that doesn't make sense," she claimed, her voice laced with confusion. "There has to be more to it that that. Did you guts get into a silly fight or something?"

"No."

"Did he piss you off?"

"No. He didn't."

"Then why the hell did you break up with him?"

"Just because, okay!?"

"No!" Ino stated angrily. "It's not okay! I want to hear the reason!"

"_Look!_" Sakura snapped loudly. "I've had enough of being interrogated for the night so can we please just drop it for now?"

Giving a sideways glance to her friend, Ino sighed. "Fine forehead," she sighed. "I'll let it go but only for now and just because you look like hell, but you'll have to tell me sooner or later, got it?"

Sakura just grunted in response as she picked up her glass and finished off the rest of its contents, more than happy to be out of the limelight even if it was only for a little while.

To find something else to amuse herself, Ino turned around in her barstool and leaned back against the counter as her bright, blue eyes began to scan the rest of the bar until they stopped in the far corner. "Oh!" she exclaimed in pleasant surprise. "It would seem Hinata's found someone she likes! That's funny. I didn't even notice that she had wandered off…Take a look!"

Doing as told, Sakura swung around in her seat as well to see what her friend was talking about. Spotting Hinata, she instantly froze.

_…No!_

Standing with her back facing Sakura, Hinata was looking up at a young man with familiar red hair who was currently saying something to her.

_No! No! No!_

Looking past Hinata, Sasori's light, golden brown eyes met with Sakura's own emerald ones for a fraction of a second as he sent her a small smirk before returning all of his attention back on the dark haired girl fixed in front of him.

_'And then…I'll escalate it a bit. Who knows? Maybe one of your friends will up and disappear with out a trace and be found dead in a ditch the next day…'_

Those words that Sasori had whispered to Sakura over two weeks ago were coming back to the pink haired kunochi now as she continued to watch the two in front of her.

"This is good!" Ino said happily at her side with a small smile. "Hinata's been hung up on that silly idiot, Naruto for too long now. He's such a clueless dolt that he still hasn't noticed even a little bit that Hinata's head over heels for him. Plus this guy is pretty cute! What do you think Sakura?"

Sakura's response was to push herself away from the table and up from her seat as she started hastily towards the new found couple.

_No! No! No!_

"Sakura!" Ino called after her in confusion. "Why…What are you doing?"

The rosette haired, young woman didn't even bother to answer her friend's question as she continued to stumble forwards. "Hinata," she called out, loud enough to turn several curious heads. "Hinata!"

"S-Sakura?" Hinata asked, turning at the sound of her name and noticing her panicked friend coming to her side. "What's wrong?"

Sakura didn't reply and instead, stepped in between her friend and the puppet master like some kind of guard.

"Ano…this is…Ozona Kagari-kun," Hinata introduced, her face turning a slight reddish color as a small blush formed across her cheeks.

'Kagari-kun' gave Sakura a warm smile before extending his hand out to her and saying in a sweet tone she had never heard him use before, "It's an honor to meet one of Hinata-san's friends."

Sakura's eyes narrowed into a glare and glancing down at his hand, she slapped it away rudely.

"S-Sakura?" Hinata gasped.

Turning towards her friend, Sakura grabbed Hinata's arm and gave a hard tug before ordering, "Come on! We're leaving!"

"_D-Demo_…"

"I don't think I understand," Sasori said, stepping in front of Sakura to block off her path while he faked a confused expression. "I'm sorry. Did I do something to offend you?"

"Oh! You're just quite the actor now, aren't you," Sakura accused, pointing a finger angrily into his chest. "Why don't you just go to-

Sakura was cut off by a sharp tug on her shoulder that pulled her off balance slightly. Glancing back, she saw Ino standing there with a disapproving look on her features. "Sakura, what the hell do you think you're doing?" the blonde whispered sharply. "You're acting like a bitch!" Looking past her friend, Ino smiled at the stranger. "I'm sorry about her. I think she's had a little bit too much to drink tonight. Please forgive her."

"It's quite alright," Sasori said, offering another one of his warm smiles to Ino.

"That's very nice of you," the blonde responded with a grin of her own. "I'm Yamanaka Ino by the way."

"Ozona Kagari," Sasori introduced himself. "It's very nice to meet you, Ino-san."

Sakura watched horrified as Ino's face was overcome with a slight blush. Looking back over at the puppet master, she gave him a sneer before grabbing her friend's hands. "We have to go," she declared. "Now!"

"But why?" Ino questioned curiously.

"Because," Sakura yelled, meeting Sasori's gaze. "We have to leave now!"

_It's not safe here._

Ino sent Sakura an exasperated look. "I'm sorry," she said, turning towards 'Kagari.' "But I think we have to take our friend home."

"It's fine," he said kindly in response. Glancing at Hinata, he smiled. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime…"

"No!" Sakura objected before Hinata could say anything. "You won't be seeing her _anywhere_ or _anytime_ soon!"

For a second, Sakura saw Sasori's mask slip slightly as his usual darkness made it's way into his eyes but it was gone in an instant and replaced by his disguise. "But I think that's more up to Hinata-san, _ne_?" he told her.

Sakura gave him a hard glare. "Just stay away from her!" she ordered before grabbing tugging of her friend's hands. "Come on!" she demanded as she began to pull them away from the puppet master and instead, push them towards the door. "We're going! Now!"

"Oi!" The bartender called out after the three girl's retreating backs. "Don't forget to pay!"

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at the man angrily but still, she left her friends at the door to start towards the bar all the while reaching inside her pockets for any money she could find to pay the bill with. Brining out several coins, she prepared to leave it on the counter, but a hand beat her to it. Looking up, she was met with Sasori's gaze.

"Don't worry," he smirked down at her. "I'll get it. It'll be payback for whatever I did to offend you."

Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously. "…Suit yourself," she spat at him before pocketing her own money and turning around to start back towards her friends.

"Sakura!" Ino chided when her friend returned to her side. "That was rude!" Looking over the pink haired kunochi's shoulder, she offered Sasori a smile as she called out, "Thank you very mu-

She was cut off by Sakura pushing her out the bar door and forcing her, along with Hinata to keep walking until they were safe and alone out on the street. Stopping, she turned to face her friends. "Promise me!" she insisted, her voice shrill. "Promise me that if you ever see that man again, you stay the hell away from him?"

"But why?" Ino questioned, one of her eye brows rising up curiously.

"B-Because," Sakura stuttered, her brain racing to find a good excuse. "I-I've heard things about him! Bad things! He's a jerk!"

"Really?" Hinata asked in what seemed a disappointed tone as she looked down at her feet. A small, pink blush stained her cheeks as she said, "But he seemed nice though…"

"Yeah!" Ino agreed. "He even picked up our tab. If you ask me, the one who was acting like a jerk back there was you in my opinion."

"Just stay away from him, got it!" Sakura demanded on what bordered as a shout. "He's dangerous!"

Crossing her arms, Ino leaned slightly to her right. Letting out a sigh, she gave in. "…Yeah, yeah. Okay. Fine. Just stop bitching at me already."

"…Hinata?" Sakura asked, glancing at her other friend. "You promise too!"

"I promise," the dark haired girl settled immediately.

"Good," Sakura said, allowing a small smile to cross her face. "Thank you."

"…Well," Ino started as she let a small yawn escape from her mouth. "Since that's all taken care of, I guess I'll head home then."

Turning to look at her friend, a new worry started in Sakura's gut. "Ino, Shikamaru's home right?" she asked. "He's not out on a mission or anything, right?"

"No…" Ino answered. "Why?"

"No reason," Sakura said, brushing the question off but a small sigh of relief came from her. Ino was taken care of then. There would be someone with her and Sasori hadn't quite shown as much interest in her as he had with Hinata. Looking towards the Hyuuga, Sakura ordered, "Come on. I'll walk you home."

"Ah! Are you sure?" Hinata inquired. "Isn't it out of your way?"

"It's fine," Sakura assured with a smile. "Come on. We should get moving."

Saying their goodbyes to Ino, the two girls started in the opposite direction of the blonde. Together, they walked in complete silence; the clacking of their shoes hitting the pavement as they traveled making the only noise. Sakura barely noticed though as all of her attention was focused on what could be lingering in the shadows where the light from the lampposts couldn't reach. For all she knew, Sasori could be there, watching and waiting for the perfect time to strike. Her little paranoia busied her so much that she would have kept walking right on by the Hyuuga household if not for Hinata grabbing her arm and telling her to stop.

"S-Sorry," the rosette haired woman apologized, fully embarrassed.

"N-No! I should be the one apologizing," Hinata said. "You walked me all the way home when I knew it was out of your way. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I offered to, remember? It's fine," Sakura reassured. "But…Hinata, promise me one more time that if you ever see that man back there again, you make sure to avoid him."

"I promise," Hinata said instantly.

Sakura smiled. "Thanks."

"_Oyasuminasai_," the dark haired girl whished as she opened her door to go into her house.

"_Dewa mata_!" her friend said in return.

Seconds later, the door closed, leaving Sakura in the dark. She stood there in silence, refusing to leave from her spot until she was sure she heard the click of the door locking before even daring to turn around and leave. Starting down the street, she rounded a corner and immediately came to a stand still when she saw the shadowy figure leaning against a building's wall a little ways up the road near a lamppost.

At seeing her, the shadow stood straight and turned her way, giving her a better view of the puppet master's face. "So you walked her all the way home, huh?" he smirked at her. "What? Don't tell me that you were afraid that she was going to get snatched by a monster..."

"No," Sakura denied. "I was afraid of something worse than that."

Taking a step forward, Sasori challenged, "Are you saying that I'm worse than a monster?"

"There's no doubt."

Sasori's eyes darkened a small tint but his sick smirk still lingered. "You're very rude, you know," he chided. "Here you are insulting me when just minutes before, I paid for your tab."

"And what do you want? A thank you card?" Sakura shot back.

"That would be the proper thing to do," he told her. "But since I know you won't be giving me that, maybe I could just take that little friend of yours."

Sakura glared. "You stay away from her!" she shouted.

"But she is quite interesting," Sasori remarked, his smirk now lighting up his features. "A Hyuuga right?"

"What does that matter?"

"Byakugan, hmm…? What a nice commodity that would be for my collection."

"Just stay away from her!" Sakura commanded again. "Hinata's a sweet girl who has nothing to do with what's going on between us!"

"Well if you feel so strongly about it, I guess I could always go for that little blonde friend of yours…" Sasori stated. "Yamanaka Ino, right? She seemed to take a bit of a liking to me as well although she's a bit too loud for my tastes but that could always be taken care of easily." A small malice filled smile crossed Sasori's lips as he finished his sentence, chilling Sakura to the bone.

Still, she got the courage to shout back, "Listen! This fight is between you and me. No one else, got it? So don't you dare go and try to drag my friends into this you sick bastard or I' swear, I'll-

Sakura was cut off by Sasori as he quickly disappeared in a blur before her eyes and reappeared in less than a second, inches in front of her. The surprise from his sudden movement had Sakura stumbling backwards a few feet and almost tripping. She flinched slightly, expecting a hit to come from the puppet master but he made no further move to do so. Instead, he was looking over her shoulder, his full attention focused on something behind her.

A small frown took it's place on Sasori's lips as he calmly told her in a low tone, "It would seem that we have some company…"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Title: **An Unexpected Visitor to Ruin the Fun  
**Word Count: **6,639  
**Author's Note: **Hi there! As you can see, I updated a little faster than I did last time but I'll try to be even quicker the next time! I want to get it down to where I'm updating almost every other week. I promise that I'll try really hard! Anyways, here's chapter eight and for this chapter, I wanted to show a tad bit of a protective side from Sasori and more of Sakura getting over Sasuke which I have to say was much harder than I thought it would be. I think it's because I'm such a big SasuSaku supporter, but I hope that I did okay though, and if I didn't, I apologize! Once again, I am super paranoid so if there is a huge mistake that I missed while proof reading, please tell me and I'll fix it! Now onto the chapter, and please drop a review if you feel like it!

_Italics ~ Usually stands for 'thoughts' but today, it also stands for a dream_

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"Listen! This fight is between you and me! No one else, got it?!" Sakura shouted at the man who stood several yards down the street from her with a shrill tone because of all of the rage that was rapidly coursing through her body. "So don't you dare go and try to drag any of my friends into this, you sick bastard or I swear to you, that I'll-"

Sakura's small rant was cut off by Sasori as he vanished in a blur before her eyes and reappeared in a fraction of a second later, inches in front of her face. The surprise from his sudden movement sent her stumbling back and almost tripping as she flinched slightly, expecting a spiteful filled hit to come from the puppet master because of her rudeness, but when he made no further move to carry it out, she glanced up at his face cautiously to see that to her surprise, he wasn't even looking back down at her. Instead, she saw that his full attention was fixated over her shoulder on something behind her.

Silently, she watched him closely as his eyes turned the darkest tint she'd yet to see them while a small, displeased frown too its place on his lips. Leaning in closer, he whispered to her in a low, calm tone, "It would seem that we would have some unwanted company.

Sakura's expression turned into a panicked one at Sasori's words while her posture became rigid from shock, and although she was reluctant to turn her back on the puppet master, she still nervously glanced to see who had been unlucky enough to of stumbled in on their little argument.

Warily, her jade-colored eyes squinted, trying their best to see into the dark, spring night that resided right behind her until she was met with red, piercing orbs that starred directly back unnervingly.

_Those eyes…!_

The sight had her taking a few, hesitant steps back and almost bumping straight into Sasori as a quiet gasp escaped from her lips.

_No! It's not possible!_

Above their heads, the full moon which hung proudly in the sky moved out from behind several dark clouds that it'd been hiding behind; it's bright, yellowish light shining down onto the street and allowing Sakura to get a better view of the newcomer's face.

_How could he have gotten past the gates and into Konoha without anyone noticing?!_

A strong, chilly gust of wind traveled down the road where all three currently stood, sending numerous leaves scattering about and up into the air as well as the Akatsuki cloak to billow around the man's form right as Sakura breathed out with a quivering voice, "Uchiha…Itachi…"

At the sound of his name, the Uchiha's eyes drifted lazily over to the rosette-haired girl's shaking form, focusing in on her. "Haruno Sakura," he acknowledged with recognition, his cold voice sending chills over her smooth, pale skin and causing goose bumps to rise along her flesh.

"And what do we owe this pleasant visit?" Sasori asked in an almost teasing manor as he stepped up to Sakura's right side, but there was no mistaking the hardness that resided in his tone and facial expression. "I really doubt that you came all this way just to make a small social call."

Itachi's unsettling sharingan lingered on Sakura a few seconds longer before traveling to the puppet master, allowing the kunochi to let out a tiny, shaky breath that she hadn't even been aware that she'd been holding until now.

"Leader-sama is displeased," the Uchiha began to inform with his usual stoic expression. "He has grown uncomfortable with your long absence from the organization. He wishes for you to return at once."

"Well, I am very sorry disappoint Leader-sama," Sasori apologized without sounding the least bit regretful while doing it. "But I won't be coming back just yet." A small, but dangerous smirk took its place on his lips as he glanced down at the girl who stood at his side. "For you see, I am not quite done with playing my game just yet. I am simply having too much fun still to return now. Please do inform Leader-sama of that."

At the puppet master's words, Itachi's eyes narrowed down to the chilling slits. "I do not plan to play messenger for you," he fired back, his voice as sharp as the edge of a knife. "I was ordered to bring you back no matter what the cost. Even if it required the use of physical force."

"Aren't you just the good little lapdog now," Sasori sneered while his facial features started to be overcome with obvious irritation. "So you wish to start a fight with me now? Are you sure that you really want to do something so foolish here in Konoha, a village full of enemies?"

"Whoever said I wanted to start a fight with you?" Itachi questioned, his bloody-colored sharingan wandering to Sakura's form once more and locking eyes with her before she could have the chance to look away. "Tell me," he declared. "Is it really so hard to take down this little girl? Perhaps, I should just do the job for you and then there would nothing here to hold you, correct…?"

Sakura's eyes widened with alarm while she stood motionless and watched as the real world began to flicker around her before fading away into an illusion.

No longer was she standing next to Sasori's side on the street of Konoha. Instead, she now found that everywhere she looked, the same shade of darkness surrounded her; a deep blackness that seemed to stretch out to ever corner of the world while nothing, but a thick, heavy silence hung in the air.

Reaching out, her lithe fingers groped through the gloom, searching for anything to grab a hold of and anchor herself to, but her hands came in contact with nothing, causing a new wave of nauseating panic to start in her gut before slowly crawling through the rest of her body like some sort of disease.

_Calm down. It's not real!_

Parting her lips, Sakura opened her mouth with the intent on drawing in a small breath to try and settle her nerves down but her body convulsed in shock when she found no precious oxygen residing in the air for her to take in.

_Just an illusion…_

Shutting her eyes tightly, she put her hands together to from several signs that would hopefully dispel the genjutsu she was currently trapped in. With a hoarse voice, she shouted out, "Release!"

_Work! Please work!_

Reopening her eyes, Sakura peeked to if she had been successful with the jutsu she'd performed but was filled with further dread when she saw that she had failed in her attempt to escape, and that she still resided in the same dark void as before.

_It's fake! All of it! Just stay calm and you'll be okay!_

Quickly, the wheels of her mind began to turn rapidly as she started to scramble for any ideas of how to get herself out of her predicament safely.

_It's not real. You just need to remain composed and try to find a way out! _

Gradually, seconds began to tick by as they turned into minutes, and slowly, Sakura felt her lungs start to burn painfully, making their want for air known.

_Think!_

A watery, choking type of noise escaped from her mouth as she felt her body beginning to grow heavier and numb.

_No! Hang on!_

Bit by bit, Sakura could feel herself starting to fade away into an unconscious state.

_No! No! No!_

The fear and dismay brought tears to her eyes with the realization that she was probably going to die here, alone and silently in this dark, hellish nightmare of a place.

_Not this way! I can't happen like this…!_

Just when she thought that she couldn't hang on any longer, Sakura felt the tips of her toes brush against something so softly that at first, she thought that she might've imagined it until she could feel that her feet was indeed lying flat against a solid, firm surface.

Looking down with an expression full of astonishment, she watched as a gravel path slowly but surely began to from underneath her and soon, she found herself standing on a long-stretched road. Around her, buildings started to materialize out of thin air, lining the street while a blue sky with a bright, cheery sun took its place of the darkness that had resided over her head.

It was like emerging from a bottomless, dark lake when the oxygen came rushing back to surround her in full force, allowing Sakura to finally take a gigantic breath she had badly been in need of. Managing to somehow stumble over to the nearest structure, she collapsed against its brick wall for support as she continued to cough and sputter while trying to regain her normal breathing pattern back.

_Come on!_

After a few, quick movements of recovering, Sakura felt most of her usual strength return to her body. Feeling stable enough, she tried to push herself away from the building's side to stand on her own two feet without any assistance but was instantly struck with dizziness which caused her to sway precariously before falling down onto her knees.

_Don't be weak! Get up!_

Small beads of sweat formed on her brow as she struggled to push herself up to her full height, and somehow this time, she kept her footing. Taking a few, shaky steps, she staggered out to the middle of the street to take a full view of her surroundings, and her eyes widened with surprise when she discovered that she knew exactly where she was.

On her right stood the tall, tan-colored house that she had grown up in and had shared with her parent for the first sixteen years of her life while the shop that they had owned still rested next to it. Turning around, she squinted into the distance past many buildings to where she could see the past and present Hokage's faces carved into the huge, mountainside monument which loomed over the deserted street where she remained as well as the rest of the village.

_Konoha…_

Still, Sakura knew better though.

No matter how much this place looked like her beloved village, it wasn't actually the real thing.

_All smoke and mirrors. _

She still resided in the genjutsu that had been placed on her by the older Uchiha. There was absolutely no ounce of doubt in her body about it.

_Find a way out! _

Alert as ever, Sakura silently but swiftly made her way down the gravel road, all the while keeping a lookout for anyone or anything that might jump out at her and try to attack her.

Cautiously, she rounded a corner and came to an immediate halt to take on a defensive stance when she saw the people packed street that lay before her, but when not a single person made a threatening move towards her or even glanced her way, she faltered.

_What's going on?_

Instead of showing interest in her, every man, woman, and child who resided on the road continued on with their own business whether it was shopping among the many stalls and stores that lined the road or just wandering about.

It was all what one would expect of a busy street of Konoha on a beautiful day.

_What…?_

"Okaasan! Okaasan! Look at the woman over there!" a little auburn-haired girl with bright blue eyes shouted while tugging on her mother's sleeve and using her other hand to point towards Sakura's direction. "She's acting funny!"

As asked by her daughter, the middle-aged woman glanced in the rosette-haired girl's way before a disapproving look came over her features. "Just ignore her," the mother scolded while grabbing her child's hand to leader her away.

Sakura felt her cheeks heat up as a slight pinkish flush took over her face at the woman's words. Dropping her defensive stance, she settled for a more relaxed one so not to draw anymore unwanted attention.

While being sure to keep and eye on the people around her who still didn't give her any special consideration, Sakura took several hesitant steps as she began to start down the road warily, and found that it was almost like she was just one of the many different faces of the huge crowd with absolutley no difference from the others until she felt something hard bump into her back which sent her to her right slightly as she tried to catch herself before she could go down.

"Oi!" a loud, scratchy and angry voice called out with deafening volume from behind her. "Don't just stand in the middle of the road like some brainless idiot!"

Turning around, Sakura was met with the sight of an old, balding man who was glaring at her while what looked like a heavy sack rested on his back.

"Apologize!" the man demanded even though it had obviously been his fault. "Now!"

Under normal circumstances, this would be the type of arrogant jerk that Sakura would usually release one of her nasty tongue lashings on, but now, she did as told to. "Gomenosai," she whispered to him.

A huffing sound which revealed how annoyed the man was, was released from his mouth before he pushed past her roughly while mumbling something along the lines of 'kids these days.' Hoisting the sack even higher up on his shoulder, he struggled to carry it down the street while silently, Sakura watched him go until she could no longer keep sight of him.

_No! It's not. It can't be Konoha…right?_

Something wet suddenly landing on her cheek was the thing that pulled her out of her small daze while also startling her.

_Rain?_

Reaching up, she brushed the wetness away from her skin and brought it down in front of her eyes for inspection to see that a deep, ruby red liquid currently coated two of her fingers.

It almost looked like…

_Blood_.

The realization of what the liquid was hit her like a train wreck.

_Am I bleeding…?_

With her other hand, she allowed her fingers to run over the pale skin on her face to examine for any cuts that she might of obtained but found nothing.

_It's not mine!_

Stumbling over to the nearest building, she stuck her hand out to brush it against its wall, trying her best to remove the burgundy-colored liquid from her pale skin while leaving a smeared bloody mess behind on the bricks. She found out soon though that the effort had been wasted when several more droplets of red liquid landed on her upper, left arm and parts of the white blouse she adrorned, staining it a deep maroon color.

Cries of shock and revulsion rung out from the people who surrounded her on the street as bead after bead of crimson liquid fell at a quick pace almost like as regular rain would do on a stormy day, turning the dirt road into a bloody one. Pushing and shoving began when the once calm atmosphere was turned into a panicked one as civilians tried to run for cover.

Quickly, Sakura took refuge under an overhanging which hung over the entrance of a clothing shop, watching with an expression full of horror as the downpour of blood continued, staining everything it happened to fall on.

_What's going on?!_

A small tug on her hand sent the kunochi looking down to her right side where the same, little auburn-haired girl from before stood, looking up at her with big doe like orbs. "Onee-chan," she called in a small, scared tone. "What's happening?" Fat tears rolled out of her eyes and down her cheeks as she added while sniffling, "I can't find Okaasan!"

A loud, sickening scream pulled Sakura's attention briefly away from the child to the street where she could see a man who had tripped was now being trampled on without mercy by other people who didn't take notice of what they were doing; their want for shelter more important to them.

"Onee-chan!" the girl called once more at her side with another sharp pull on her arm. "Onee-chan!"

Glancing back down at the girl, Sakura bent down to her level and grabbed her shaking shoulders. "Don't worry," she said, trying to be reassuring as possible. "It's going to be okay."

_Such a lie. I don't know if that's true._

"B-But-"

"I promise!" Sakura said loudly, cutting of the child's sniffling doubts. "I promise that everything is going to be okay."

Reaching up, the girl rubbed angrily at her puffy, red eyes, trying to stop the tears that were rapidly falling before glancing back up. Immediately, her eyes widened with fear as she looked past Sakura's shoulder, causing her to point and ask with a quivering voice, "W-Who's that man?"

Standing to her full height, Sakura held onto the little girl's hand while turning around to see what the child was currently gesturing at and was met with the sight of one single person standing absolutely still in the fray of panicked people on the street, his sharingan watching her closely.

Even though Itachi had to be more then fifteen yards away from her, Sakura heard his voice clear as day when he said, "Haruno Sakura…"

There were several seconds when it seemed like everything slowed in the illusion, turning everything into a blur before her eyes except for the Uchiha in front of her. Blinking, she watched confused as his form flickered several times to a different man.

A man that she was more familiar with.

_Sasuke…?!_

The image before her changed once again, this time back to the older Uchiha brother as he took a step towards her and started slowly in her direction. "You are in love with my little brother, correct?" he questioned as he continued to approach her through the throng of people.

Sakura didn't offer an answer. Instead, watched dumbstruck as Itachi's body flickered to Sasuke's once more, but only this time, it remained on the younger Uchiha while the bloody rain continued to fall, creating red tracks down his devastatingly handsome face and staining the white shirt that he wore crimson, just like the color of his eyes.

"Would you still love me," he started with a voice that no longer sounded like Itachi's but one that she knew belonged to Sasuke, "if you knew all that I have done up till now to get my revenge?" Reaching back, his hands wrapped around the hilt of the familiar katana he carried, pulling it from its sheath. "If you knew about all of the people that I've killed," he continued while easily cutting down a middle-aged man who had run in front of him, hardly sparring a glance while doing it and causing Sakura to flinch. "If you knew how much I hate I have…"

"Onee-chan!" the little girl shouted at the kunochi's side while tugging on her shirt persistently. "Run! We have to run!"

Sakura found her legs incapable of movement as she continued to stare at the boy in front of her.

_It's not him. It's not Sasuke._

"Onee-chan!" the girl shouted franticly once more, glancing at the man who was looking like a predator about to pounce on its prey. "Onee-chan! Run!" When she got no response from Sakura, the child tore her hand from the kunochi's to flee by herself.

_It's just an illusion. It's not real!_

He stopped five yards from her. "What about now?" he asked before disappearing in a dark blur.

_Not him…_

The first thing she felt was the cold point of his metal blade which easily sliced through the cotton-like material of her shirt and then into her skin, sliding deep into her abdomen. Shutting her eyes tightly, she bit down on her bottom lip hard in an unsuccessful attempt to hold back a cry of pain.

_Not real…_

She felt the warmth from his breath on her face as he leaned in closer. "Do you still love me now, Sa-ku-ra…?" he whispered into her ear, carefully drawing out her name before her body was racked with a strong, painful convulsion as she coughed up crimson-colored liquid which dribbled slowly down her chin and onto her already blood stained clothes.

She heard something among the lines of a dark chuckle escape from his throat as he pulled back, drawing his katana out of her body as he moved and causing Sakura to instantly fall to the muddy ground like a worthless ragdoll without anything to hold her up. She landed on her side, watching through a blurry vision as the Uchiha's feet moved out of her line of sight to somewhere she could not see, but the horrible screams of the Konoha residents that filled the air seconds later gave her a good idea of what he was doing.

"Stop it…" she croaked out pathetically as the bloody rain continued to poor down on her broken and beaten body. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Release," she heard a familiar voice that she recognized as Sasori's penetrate loudly through the genjutsu.

Opening her eyes, Sakura found herself being propelled back into the real world and into the dark, spring night where she had been before, only now her body was shaking with violent tremors due to strong aftershocks of the illusion.

"Oi…" a voice said quietly, causing Sakura to jump slightly before looking up to meet Sasori's serious, light-brown eyes which were starring back down into her own tear filled emerald ones.

She watched as his gaze drifted down to his arm and hers' followed shortly after to see that her nails were digging into the material of his long-sleeved shirt as she held onto his arm tightly with both of her hands in a vice like grip. Disgusted by the sight, she pushed herself away from him but immediately almost regretted it when she found that she didn't have the strength to stand on her own without any support. Rocking precariously, she fell down onto her knees and caught herself on her hands, causing the rocks from the gravel path to dig into her palms painfully hard.

Her breath came out in fast, small puffs as if she had just jogged mile over countless mile, and glancing up slightly, she saw that Itachi still resided down the street, having not moved from his spot what seemed even an inch.

Feet stepped out in front of her suddenly, as Sasori moved, giving her a view of his back and separating her from the Uchiha. "I'm sorry, but if you want to go and pick on someone, go and get your own victim," she heard the puppet master say with a venomous tone that revealed his true anger. "She's already been claimed by me... And if you're sure that you still want to pick a fight," the puppet master continued, "I will be your opponent, but I'm not sure you want to do something so foolish after you wasted up almost half of your chakra on that silly genjutsu..."

There was a moment of silence where the only noise was the sound of crickets chirping and Sakura's small gasps of pain.

"…I'll give you a week," Itachi finally spoke. "That's all the time you have left to finish up your business here."

"Fine."

Sakura heard the ruffling swish of fabric which she presumed was the sound of the Uchiha taking his leave and the noise of shuffling feet as Sasori turned to loom over her.

"You're so pathetic..." was the last thing she heard before both of her arms gave ouf painfully, causing her to land fully on her front against the road.

Then she was falling away.

Then she was gone.

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**-As-If-Happy-Endings**-Exist-

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_Opening her eyes, Sakura blinked slowly when she found herself standing on a gray, stone path, alone and waiting in the cold night that surrounded her while above her head, the full moon which shinned like a bright beacon sat low in the cloudy sky as crickets chirped loudly; the small, numerous insects the only thing making any noise._

_Instantly, recognition kicked in. _

_She knew and hated this wretched place. _

_This was the site that had been apart of her dreams, or she guessed nightmares, countless lonely nights since she was twelve, and she definitely knew what happened next._

_Sure enough, several seconds later, the dark, raven-haired boy rounded the bend of trees further down the road; his onyx-colored eyes full of determination, his pale hands in the pockets of his white shorts, and his blue pack secured tightly to his back._

_Quickly, the usual sorrow and dead that was always caused by the scene began to overwhelm her body as she continued to watch his approach._

I don't want to be here…

_The noisy clacking sound of shoes hitting stone ceased as the younger Sasuke she had once known came to a halt in front of her. 'Why are you prowling around her in the middle of the night?' his deep voice questioned as if he didn't already know the answer and she was stupid._

_As usual, Sakura found herself having no control over her body or speech as her lips parted to say the same, damn thing that she had whispered to him back on that night six years ago. 'Because…this is the only road out of the village.'_

_Right now, she was just along for the ride. A simple, one person audience inside of her head._

I don't want to see this…

_'Get out of here and go back to sleep,' he ordered and just like that, Sakura found herself being dismissed as he resumed his betrayal to Konoha as well as her._

Stop it! Wake up!

_Quietly, Sakura stood still while she felt his form pass her own as he walked right on by, and not until he was past, did she allow one of the many tears that were starting to painfully burn her eyes to fall. _

_Swiftly, the crystal-clear liquid slid down her cheek, leaving a wet, slimy tail behind it._

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

_'Why?' she asked just as she had done before while trying her best to make sure that her voice didn't crack on the single word. Turning silently, she watched his retreating back for a few, short seconds before continuing with her interrogation. 'Why won't you ever tell me anything? Why do you always remain sile-'_

_'Why should I have to tell you anything?' he cut her off with his own question as he came to a standstill, his voice crisp and cold._

I don't want to see this!

_More tears began the journey down her face as she took a small step towards him to begin her sad, feeble pleading and begging to try and get him to stay._

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

_Placing both of her hands on her chest and shutting her eyes tight, she shouted out the feeling that she'd harbored for him._

Stop it…

_His response was one of the things that she hated the most about this dream. Turning around slightly, he smirked at her. 'You really are annoying.'_

_The words struck something deep in her, tearing it to shreds as it did every time._

I hate this! Wake up!

_She watched as he faced forward to once again resume his walking and this time, she felt her own feet move as she ran after him while shouting out her halfhearted threat about screaming. _

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I hate it!

_Once the sentence was out of her mouth, she saw him vanish in a haze before her eyes as expected, and instantly, she came to a halt when she felt the sudden presence behind her._

"Sakura-chan!" a familiar voice called out her name loud enough to break through the dream.

_Sakura starred straight ahead as a strong gust of wind blew down the road where they both stood, sending her rosette-colored hair to fly around her face and the leaves hanging on the trees that surrounded them to rustle noisily_

Wake up!

_Tears feel freely now since she no longer held the will power to hold them back as she felt his warm breath on the back of her neck._

_'Sakura…' she heard his voice breathe out her name. _

"Sakura-chaaannn…" the same voice said again only this time, it held earsplitting volume. "Wake up!"

_'Arigato…'_

_She felt his fingers slide past her hair to hit the small pressure point that resided on her neck. _

I hate this!

_Instantly, she felt herself slip into unconsciousness because of the jab but not before whispering his name one final time._

"Sakura-chan! Oi! Sakura-chan!"

The bright voice was clearer this time, and almost obnoxiously loud, causing Sakura's eyes to fly open wide from shock.

She was met with the sight of blonde hair and curious, blue-colored orbs that were starring directly back down into her own sea green ones.

Slowly, she blinked, wondering if she was actually seeing what she thought she was and winced when her head throbbed painfully from a terrible headache that was pounding away angrily in her temples. "Naru…to…" she mumbled out sloppily, recognizing the face that resided inches above her own.

"Ah! Sakura-chan!" the blonde exclaimed happily while moving even closer with a new, goofy grin taking its place on his lips. "You're awake!"

"Naruto…" she repeated the name over once more before her eyes were overtaken with a hard, annoyed glare. Reaching up, her right hand fisted into the front of his prized orange jacket. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" she shouted with a tone full of anger while pushing him away.

From the force of her strong shove, Naruto found himself falling back until he landed on his butt against the linoleum tiled floor of the hospital. "Itai! Itai!" he complained loud enough for his words to echo around the room as he reached to rub his now tender backside. Glancing back up at the rosette-haired girl who was now currently sitting up on the bed that she'd been sleeping in moments before, he whined, "Sakura-chan…What was that for?"

"You should know what that was for!" Sakura yelled back at him, a dirty look still finding a place to dwell on her face. "What do you think you were doing?"

"I was trying to wake you up," the blonde defended himself.

"Yeah. Well that doesn't mean that you have to be half an inch from my face while doing it, now does it?! What kind of wake up is that!"

"But…" Naruto stood, crossing his arms in a pouting like gesture. "You were mumbling in you sleep and stuff. Tsunade-bachan said to just let you rest till you woke up on your own but I was worried!"

Sakura faltered at her friend's words, feeling something soften inside of her as well as the guilt build up for yelling at him. Parting her lips, she prepared to offer something along the lines of a small apology to him, but someone else beat her to speaking.

"You know, you're not that nice to your friend who was so concerned about you…"

Sakura's eyes widened with the recognition of who the voice belonged to.

Hastily, her gaze traveled to the right corner of the room, a place where she had not bothered to glance at until now and saw that the puppet master sat in a chair that resided there, looking quite comfertable.

Just the simple sight of his face was enough for everything to come rushing back.

Itachi. The illusion. And the sentence about only having one week left.

"What is _he_ doing here," Sakura snarled out through gritted teeth, sending Sasori a withering glare.

"Ah! You already know Kagari?" Naruto asked with a confused expression.

"Luckily, we have had the pleasure of meeting before," Sasori answered, offering one of his fake but believable, kind smiles to Naruto. Looking towards Sakura, he gave her one as well though his eyes revealed a certain tint of malice that hadn't been there when he'd been talking to the blonde. "Right, Haruno-san?"

Wanting an answer to her question, Sakura asked once more without taking her eyes off of the puppet master, "What is he doing here?"

"He's the one who brought you here," Naruto told her, gesturing around the small, hospital room as if it were evidence. "He found you out in the middle of a street, passed out. He didn't know what was wrong with you so he carried you here."

_What a lie. _

Sasori's smile widened as he said, "You gave me quite a scare."

_Bastard! _

"Tsunade-bachan said you probably fainted from both exhaustion and stress," Naruto began to explain to her as Sakura's hands fisted into the white sheet that had been draped over her while she'd been sleeping. "She wants you to stay the night here and she said that she'd back in the morning to talk to you," the blonde continued on.

_He's such a lair!_

Naruto smiled brightly. "You're lucky Kagari came along when he did, Sakura-chan or some bad person could have got you! You should thank him!"

Sakura's head whipped quickly in her friend's direction at his words with an appalled look on her face. "What?"

_Never!_

"You should thank him for saving you!"

Her eyes drifted back over to Sasori's form to see that his lips were twitching up slightly into a smirk, causing her to want to give him the middle finger and some choice, curse words instead of any form of gratitude.

_But you can't cause a scene. _

Swallowing what was left of her pride, Sakura felt the self loathing start to seep through her body.

_Don't let Naruto think anything's wrong. You could put him in danger... _

"Tha-"

She was cut short by shouts of disapproval from the hallway, causing all three heads to turn towards the doorway.

"Sir! Stop it! You can't go in there right now! It's past visiting hours and we already made an exception for two people. Sir! Please stop!"

There were several following poudning sounds before the door that lead into the room suddenly slid open with a loud, clacking noise, revrealing a man standing there who wore a panicked expression and dishevled brown hair while the several nurses who had obviously been trying to stop him stood behind.

Sakura's eyes widened slightly from suprise as breathed out, "Kiba…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Title: **Lets Plan A Lunch Date  
**Word Count: **8,121  
**Author's Note: **Mwhahaha! I finally finished this chapter! I know that some people are going to be absolutely pissed at me for saying that I'd try to update sooner and then I didn't…Yeah. I am super sorry about that and I beg for your forgiveness but I have to play the 'I've just been really busy' excuse once more! Even with spring break, I couldn't find a lot of time to sit down and write. Still, you should be happy that this got out today anyways! I was almost done with it when my computer went all stupid and I lost everything. I had to re-write this all! T_T Anyways, here's chapter nine and in this one, I have the start of Sasori vs. Kiba with Sakura playing the referee – something I think a lot of people have been waiting for! Most of it will still be in the next chapter though just to warn everyone, but Naruto also gets some fighting done in here as well since he's a pretty cool guy and really, I couldn't leave him out of all of it. He's fun to write and I mean, the series _is _named after him…So I hope you enjoy this chapter and please, after you're done reading it, send a review my way to tell me if you like how the fic is going! Thanks!

Also, if you like this fanfic, I have two other SasoSaku ones going and you might enjoy them though I will warn that they are slightly different than this one...!

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**-As-If-Happy-Endings-**Exist-

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"Kiba…" Sakura breathed the young man's name out softly at the sight of her ex-boyfriend – hair disheveled and a panicked expression splayed out across his face – standing in the doorway of the small hospital room with several stern looking nurses behind his back who all had apparently been trying to stop him from coming. "…What are you doing here?"

"Sir!" one of the older looking nurses objected nosily before the boy could even have a chance to respond. "I am very sorry but I must insist that you leave at once!" she barked out her order as her hand reached out to allow her fingers to wrap around the upper part of his right arm, and her newly manicured nails dug deep into the worn material of his old leather jacket. "It's already past visiting hours, and as you can see, we have already made an exception for two people so far," she continued to inform briskly while tugging on him. "So if you would please just go home now, you'd be more than welcome to come back tomorrow morning…"

Looking down to his side, Kiba sent a glare to the loud, pesky woman. "Let me go!" he ordered harshly as he roughly tore himself free of her grip. "I'm not going anywhere until I get a chance to talk to her!"

Though most of the nurses shrunk back at his small, angry outburst, the older one didn't even bother to flinch. Instead, she kept up with her protesting. "But sir!" she shouted. "You don't understand at all! I simply cannot allow you to-

"It's fine!" Sakura suddenly interrupted with enough volume to border on a shout which meant it was easily able to cut off anymore of the annoying woman's persistent rejections as well as surprise everyone. "…I know it may be a bit troublesome for you as well as the rest of the staff," she continued on, looking up, "but I would appreciate it if you would please allow him to stay…"

Peering past Kiba's tall form, the woman paused for a short moment before clicking her tongue in obvious disapproval, but still, she knew that in the end, she didn't hold the authority to refuse a request that came from one of Konoha's top medics and the apprentice of the fifth Hokage. "Fine," she huffed out loudly, giving into the idea of permitting Kiba to stay. "But if anyone else comes I am immediately sending them away! We just cannot allow everyone to break the rules here or this place would easily turn into a mad house!"

Sakura bowed her head slightly from where she sat. "I understand. Thank you…"

"Good," the nurse snapped back rudely, and sending everyone one last withering glare, she slammed the sliding door shut with an earsplitting clacking sound right behind Kiba's back, leaving all four alone in the room with a now awkward silence.

Naruto – of course – was the first to try and break it.

"Wow…" he began. "Do they run a tight security around here or what?! I bet they could even take on Tsunade-baachan's Anbu guards, ne?" he joked pathetically and in the end, the blonde was the only one to let out a chuckle at his sad attempt of a crack.

Sakura completely ignored every last word that her friend had just spoken and instead, she nervously glanced up to be met with Kiba's dark, coffee-colored eyes that starred directly back into her own light, olive ones with evident concern. Hurriedly, Sakura broke off the small connection they had maintained for less than a fraction of a second and moved her gaze down into her lap where she could see that her pale hands were currently fisting into the snow white sheet that had been placed over her earlier while she'd been sleeping.

Biting her bottom lip softly, she hesitated for a short moment before opening her mouth to ask, "Kiba, what are you-

"What the hell is he doing here?!"

Sakura's question was cut off by the person it had been posed to as he asked his own and peering up, Sakura found herself becoming a witness to the scene of Kiba glaring into the far corner where the puppet master currently sat in a chair, looking quite comfortable. He had been nothing more than a silent audience for the last couple minutes though Sakura could spot a small amount of irritation had sprouted in his orbs ever since the other man had entered the room.

"Ah!" You already know Kagari too?" Naruto exclaimed with surprise before anyone could offer an answer to Kiba's question. Turning in Sasori's direction, the blonde admitted with a bright smile, "You're a pretty popular guy!"

"No!" Kiba denied loudly, his tone revealing true fury. "He's a jackass!"

Naruto's grin instantly became something non-existent as soon as the statement was declared and his blonde head whipped towards Kiba. "What?" he asked, a confused look finding a place to thrive on his face. "…What do you mean?"

"I mean he's a jackass!" Kiba repeated his sentence over once more without any hesitation, only this time, he pointed at the puppet master as he spoke the words as if his single action would prove his point, and Sakura watched as a small, disapproving frown appeared on Sasori's lips because of it.

"Why do you say that?" Naruto questioned his brown furrowing deeply. "He's the one who brought Sakura-chan here in the first place…"

Kiba's dark eyes widened in surprise before his gaze flew back over to the corner. "You…saved her?" he asked – his voice making it sound like it was the most amazing thing he'd ever heard of.

In response to the question, Sakura noticed how Sasori's lips twitched up slightly into a haughty smirk which caused him to look like he took pride in the fact that he was the so called 'savior' and Sakura felt her hands that were now resting in her lap burn with the strong want to slap the arrogant look right off of his face.

"Hai…" 'Kagari' finally replied.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Kiba's posture stiffen at the answer as the astonishment hit him hard and begin to set in. Seconds later, he stole a quick glance her way, sending her a small quizzical look before he faced the blonde once more with a new hardened expression. "Are you sure that he's not the real reason why she even had to come to a hospital in the first place…?"

Naruto's bright, cerulean orbs widened at the question with the understanding of what Kiba was actually suggesting before they narrowed to angry slits. "Kiba!" he shouted, his tone now full of irritation as well. "What the hell is your problem?! Tsunade-baachan already said that Sakura-chan collapsed from exhaustion so instead of blaming Kagari, you should be thanking him! He's the one who found her before any bad people could!"

"Yeah? Well you know what? I just can't buy all of that shit when I've seen what kinda guy Kagari actually is!" Kiba bellowed right back. "Plus, you hardly know the guy Naruto! Why are you sticking up for him? You don't know what he can truly be like!"

"But as I recall, I don't really remember being acquainted with you either," Sasori cut right into the fight though his voice was dead calm unlike the other two raging men. "Right, Kiba-san?"

Spinning on his heel, Kiba faced the puppet master fully on. "I don't have to be acquainted with you anymore than I already am! Last time I saw you, you kicked my ass right before sending me into a fucking picnic table!"

Sasori's frown deepened. "Actually, if my memory is correct, you were the one who was trying to kick my ass and after you missed landing a punch on me, you sent yourself into that picnic table…

At the response, Sakura watched as Kiba's jaw clenched tightly while his hands turned into threatening fists as his side, and the simple sight if it sent a small ball of panic straight into her gut.

"K-Kiba," she started, not wanting another round to start up right in front of her in the small hospital room.

_Stop it or you're going to get hurt!_

"Cam down!" her voice ordered of him.

"How can you say that, Sakura?!" Kiba shouted, turning his hard glare onto her. "You've seen what an ass he is! Are you really going to stick up for him?!"

"No. Of course not! I-

"Oi!" Don't you yell are Sakura-chan!" Naruto interrupted her as he tried his best to defend her. "She's done nothing wrong here and Kagari hasn't either! Really, if anyone is acting like a jackass here, it's you Kiba!"

"Me?!" Kiba yelled, taking obvious offence to the blond boy's words. "But he's the one who-

Kiba's bellow was cut off mid-sentence by the door leading into the room sliding open once more with a deafening clacking sound, revealing the same older-looking nurse from before, but right now, her face was a brilliant shade of red from all of the anger that was coursing rapidly through her small, dumpy form.

"What on earth is going on in here?!" she demanded to know. "You all are disturbing everyone else here!"

Instantly, both Naruto and Kiba began an idiotic sounding, mumbling rant as they quickly tried to apologize while explaining what was going on but the two boy's were interrupted by the woman's razor-sharp tongue as she continued, "This is a hospital! Not a playground where you kids can get into one of your foolish fights or one of your screaming matches. If I had known that this is what would've happened from the start, I would not have allowed any of you to stay in the first place!"

"I-I am very sorry for the disturbance that we've caused," Sakura apologized hastily, trying to get the whole situation around her to calm down to a certain degree. "It's just that-

"Haruno-san," the nurse snapped, turning her pointed gaze onto the young, pink-haired woman. "Right now, I really don't care what position you hold here. I am very sorry but because of how your guests have behaved, I must insist on them leaving!"

The woman's last words caught Kiba's attention, causing him to object with a quite loud, "But-

"Now!" the nurse stormed, stomping her high heeled foot against the tiled floor of the room. Moving to the side, she held the door open for the three men, clearly expecting them to obey her order without any questions.

A thick silence traveled through the room for several seconds after her command, stretching out to every corner until it was broken by the rustling of clothes as Sasori took a stand, abandoning his seat behind. "I apologize for the commotion we have caused," he told the nurse while offering one of his false, friendly smiles. "We'll be going now…"

To his side, Naruto nodded slightly in agreement. "Yeah. Sorry," he mumbled, leaving his spot by the bed Sakura sat on to walk towards the exit.

Silently, Sasori followed behind the blonde though Kiba was a whole different story. He stood tall, his lips set in a long, firm frown as he stubbornly refused to budge from his position which caused everyone to look at him expectantly.

"Sir…!" the nurse called out to him impatiently, her eyes revealing her small amount of wariness with the knowing that she was going to have a problem with the dark –haired boy once more. "I'm sorry, but you have to leave…"

"Kiba," Naruto said the boy's name from where he stood in the door way. "Come on already."

"Give me five more minutes," Kiba suddenly demanded of the nurse, glancing Sakura's way which caused her sea green orbs to widen.

_No…! I don't want to be alone with him!_

"Absolutely not!" the nurse barked back viciously at the request to Sakura's relief.

_Yes!_

"Oh, just let him stay for a little longer," Naruto cut in with a heavy sigh as he leaned against the wall. "Even if he is a jerk, he is her boyfriend after all, and he hasn't really been able to talk to her yet, ne Sakura-chan?" The blonde sent her a warm smile, thinking he was being some sort of help to her.

_Stupid idiot!_

Apparently the news of the big break up between Inuzuka Kiba and her that had only occurred a little more than thirteen hours earlier hadn't yet reached the ears of the infamous Uzumaki Naruto.

"Absolutely not," the nurse repeated once more, standing firm. "I cannot allow him to after all that's happened."

_Yes!_

"Come on! It's just five minutes," Naruto tried to bargain once more, thinking it was for Sakura's sake. "It's not like the whole world is going to end if you just let him stay for that long."

_Shut up, you dim-witted moron!_

Sakura watched horrified as the nurse's face flickered with hesitation for a few seconds before Naruto pressed a little bit more with a small grin, "Please…?"

That was all it took to wear down the rest of the woman's resolve. Letting out a heavy, frustrated sigh, she gave in. "Very well…" she said, turning her head in Kiba direction. "Five minutes is all though! Not a minute more!"

"That's fine," Kiba said hastily, settling for any time he could possible get. Grateful, he nodded politely to the older-looking woman to show his gratitude.

The nurse didn't offer any type of kind gesture in return. Instead, she turned smartly on her heel to face the other two men. "You two however have to leave now," she informed both Naruto and Sasori.

_…No!_

"Okay," Naruto said with understanding and he looked past the nurse to give Sakura a bright smile. "Bye Sakura-chan!"

_Don't leave me alone with him!_

"W-Wait, Naruto! We're not-

"No need to get all embarrassed. It's okay!" the blonde said, rolling his eyes at his teammate sarcastically. "I don't want to be around anyway when you two start to suck each other's faces off. That's something that would totally scar me for life!"

Naruto faked a shudder before laughing at his own words, while a dark shade of red spread rapidly across Sakura's two cheeks like an out of control wild fire, and even a slight pinkish tint could be seen on Kiba's own face.

_Don't go! Don't go! Don't go!_

"No! Na-Naruto. Please wait…" she called out nosily after the blonde as he began to exit the room.

"Good night!" was all the blonde responded with, and completely oblivious to her pleading words, he disappeared from her view which just left Sasori in the doorway next to the nurse.

Sakura exchanged gazes with him for a short moment. One in which she saw him drop his front all together so that he could give her one of his original, playful smirks as a parting gift before he too turned to walk out of her sight.

"Five minutes is all!" the nurse's voice reminded Kiba and Sakura once more before she closed the door softly behind her, leaving the two teenagers alone in the room with complete privacy.

The fact made a frown form on Sakura's cherry-colored lips and slowly, she shifted her gaze from the door to Kiba who was currently gawking at his feet and not daring to meet her eye. Sighing at him, she looked down into her lap, shifting uncomfortably.

_This is too awkward…_

Still, Sakura found herself being forced to peer back up when she heard the loud, scratchy sound that broke the heavy silence between them and she watched as Kiba effortlessly dragged a wooden chair towards her. Finding a place for it about a foot away from the bed, he stopped in his actions and took a seat. Silently, the two exchanged a self-conscious look before Sakura broke it off to face forward and stare at the opposite wall.

"Why are you here…?" she questioned quietly while wringing her hands in her lap.

"Naruto called me," Kiba answered, and she felt him shift until he was leaning back in the chair. "All he told me was that you were in the hospital and that you-

"No…" Sakura cut off, annoyed by his nervous ranting. "_Why _are you here?"

Kiba's brow furrowed at the question. "What?"

"After this morning…" Sakura started and her eyes slid back over to meet his own, "why would you even bother to come?"

The brown-haired boy's orbs widened with slight understanding of what she was getting at. "Well…I thought we agreed on being friends," he began, his voice revealing how uncomfortable he truly was. "…Isn't it normal for a friend to come visit another when their in the hospital...?"

"Yes…" Sakura said with a nod. "But not when it's on the same day they broke up."

An exasperated sigh escaped loudly from Kiba's parted lips. "Do we really have to get all technical about everything, here?" he asked with slight annoyance showing in his expression. "I was just worried about you, so I came…"

_You shouldn't have. I'm here because this is my fault. You're too nice for this. Too sweet. You shouldn't have come. In fact, I wish you hadn't. _

Yet another stillness easily took over the room, and the two sat in it for a short while until Kiba questioned, "So what really happened…?"

His question caused Sakura to glance back over at him. "What?"

"What really happened to make you have to come here?" the young man asked, his concerned eyes meeting her own. "I really doubt it was just what Naruto said."

_Stop it now!_

"What Naruto said was true," the girl answered, breaking contact with him. "I fainted from exhaustion. That's all there is to it."

"Tch…Don't feed me that crap, Sakura," Kiba told her, his tone becoming slightly harsher. "It's too much of a coincidence that that _guy _was the once who found you."

_You're going to get hurt if you keep this up!_

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sakura whispered, trying to downplay the interrogation her ex had started. "Nothing happened except for me passing out from fatigue. I don't know what you want to hear, but-

"I want to hear you tell me the damn truth already," Kiba yelled, leaning in closer to her so he could get a better view of her face. "You're lying to me! I can tell so just stop it! All I want from you is the truth of who that guy is!"

_Stop it!_

"Kiba…" Sakura whispered out, peering to her right to meet his gaze.

"…What?"

"I think you should go…" she finished.

Immediately, she saw the unspoken frustration gather in the boy's eyes. "Fine!" he bit out as he pushed himself up to his full height. Without a single word, he showed himself out and slammed the sliding door shut behind him.

The noise was loud enough to make Sakura wince slightly from where she sat before she sighed heavily down into her lap.

"…There is one thing that I will never quite understand and that is what you can possibly see in him," a voice rang out through the silence though Sakura found she didn't feel any surprise or shock from it like she used to.

It was pretty much common knowledge to her now that he was always observing her though all hours and everything she did.

"Just go away…" she breathed out the sentence, absolutely in no mood to humor him and the current games he wished to play with her.

"Ah, but that would be no fun at all," the puppet master's voice shot back playfully and out of the corner of her eye, Sakura watched as his form moved out from behind the long drapes that hung in front of the window before he moved further into the room. "You seem to be in a sour mood tonight," he acknowledged, stopping about five feet from where she sat on the bed.

Silently, she turned her level gaze onto him, hating to see that he was still wearing that same, arrogant smirk of his that he had parted with only a few minutes earlier.

It only widened when he saw that he had her full attention before he showed both of his empty hands as he decided to tease, "I fear that you will be severally disappointed if you were expecting a 'get well' card or some flowers."

"…Go away," Sakura repeated once more, giving him a hard glare. "Just leave me alone…"

_Get out my life. Stay away from me. You're ruining everything._

Her current behavior caused a small frown to replace his sneer as he shifted all of his weight to his right. "Where did your feistiness go?" he questioned her. "You seem slightly boring tonight."

"And you seem disturbingly calm," Sakura shot right back.

One of the puppet master's brows shot up at the sentence she had loudly declared. "What do you mean?" he questioned, tipping his head slightly in puzzlement.

"Are you faking ignorance," the pink-haired girl began to ask with a sharp tone, "or have you really already forgotten that we were paid a visit earlier tonight by Uchiha Itachi?" .

"…So that's what has put you in this little mood?" Sasori asked, the smirk returning to his lips. "Is that all?"

"…"

"I will admit that the little visitor we received was not something that I had planned for, but I see no reason in getting so worked up about it," the puppet master told her. "Or are you upset about the time limit he has put on the game we're playing…?"

_It's more like a time limit on my life…._

Sakura's bitter thought was cut off by Sasori's small chuckle.

"You don't get it do you?" he mocked her which caused her to glance up at him with a glare. "…In the end, do you really believe that I'm going to follow the orders of a filthy Uchiha?" he asked, and he watched as her sea green orbs widened. "Uchiha Itachi is something that I will eventually have to deal with in a week," he continued, "but this game that we're playing together is something that will end when I wish it too..."

Sakura's lips parted but no words escaped from her mouth since she wasn't quite sure how to respond to his sentnce.

"But, may I offer you a small amount of advice though?" the pupppet master asked and he carried right on without waiting for her reply. "If you wish to keep your life for a little bit longer," he began, "than I suggest that you find ways to keep me entertained in our game…"

He turned quickly without waiting to see the shocked expression that came over her face or the way her lips turned down to form a scowl. "Good night, Haruno-san" was all he said instead, using the phony voice he employed when he was fronting as Kagari and she watched as he prepared to leave by exiting out the window he'd come from but not before leaving her with a, "Sleep tight…"

And then he was gone.

.

**-As-If-Happy-Endings**-Exist-

.

Silent and by herself, Haruno Sakura stood in front of the large, intimidating Hokage's desk, shifting from foot to foot awkwardly while she waited anxiously for the person who usually took the seat on the tall chair pulled up to it.

She'd been in the same position for the last ten minutes - having come here just like she'd been told to do right after checking out of the hospital which had been about twenty minutes ago. That meant it had given the nervousness plenty of time to build up in her gut and swirl around nauseatingly through the rest of her body.

It wasn't of any help at all that her head currently pounded away with a mind-splitting headache and that her stomach was growing angrily for some food. She was also still wearing the now foul-smelling, grimy clothes that she'd worn the night before to the bar with Ino and Hinata while large, dark-colored bags hung under her bloodshot, olive orbs due to her lack of sleep last night.

Altogether, she felt disgusting as well as exhausted and in the Hokage's office to receive what she was sure to be a lecture, was really one of the last places she wanted to currently be at.

Suddenly, the door leading into the room opened up with a loud, creaking sound right behind Sakura's back, causing her to jump slightly before she turned to see a yawning Tsunade entering, followed closely by the also tired-looking Shizune who was carrying the little, happy piglet, Tonton.

"Sakura…" the tall, blonde woman greeted her pupil stiffly with a long-stretched frown on her lips, and her high heels clacked nosily against the wooden floor as she walked over to her desk so that she could lean against it for support while she gave the young, pink-haired girl a onceover.

"…Shishou," Sakura responded politely, bowing her head respectfully to her sannin master, and glancing to her right, she also gave a kind nod of acknowledgement to Shizune as well to which the woman countered with the same gesture.

"How are you feeling today?" Tsunade asked, crossing her arms while tipping her head to her side to regard her student closely with a serious expression. "Any better?"

"Very much,"' Sakura answered calmly without any hesitation, though her insides turned uncomfortably from her uneasiness. "Thank you for your concern."

"…That's good," the Hokage commended, letting out a light sigh. Pushing herself away from the table, she stood before walking behind it to take her seat there. "Fainting from exhaustion is never a pleasant experience but at least it's not as bad as other injuries. I have to wonder though, what caused you to pass out from fatigue in the first place…"

Sakura blinked silently at the last sentence, fidgeting slightly under her shishou's heavy gaze.

"Sakura," Tsunade began slowly, "is there something that you should be telling me…?"

Biting her lower lip, Sakura stared at the woman who sat in front of her.

This was a person that she had looked at as a teacher, confidant, as well as a motherly-figure for the last couple years of her life, but still, Sakura found herself hesitating on whether to say anything about the current crisis her life was revolving around.

_'Do you really think that any of your silly friends would believe you if you ever told them that me – a dead man – was in your apartment? That's right. They wouldn't. They'd think that you lost you mind and you'd be locked up in that little hospital that you work at for life.'_

"No," Sakura finally answered, glad that her voice sounded strong and confident while she did it.

Nervously, she watched as Tsunade gave her a quizzical look that made her seem like she wasn't buying the answer until she said, "Okay. If there isn't anything else, you are dismissed for now. Just remember that you have a little over a week and two months left until you're suspension is up."

Sakura's mouth dropped open and a confused expression spread rapidly over her face as she watched her shishou signal Shizune to bring several documents over to the desk. It was like she was a completely forgotten matter.

"Am…Am I not receiving a lecture?"

The question caused Tsunade to glance up from her seat before she let out another loud sigh. "Do you really want one?" she asked, eyeing her pupil lazily. "I think you already know just what I would say, and besides, you look like crap. The best thing that I can tell your right at the moment is for you to go home and get some badly needed rest before you collapse once more from exhaustion. We don't want a repeat of last night's occurrence."

Sakura stared dumbfounded as the blonde-haired woman ended the conversation by looking back down to get started on her large stack of hated paperwork. The whole meeting had been surprisingly swift and painless to be actually real.

"…Goodbye then," Sakura whispered out after a moment of recovery from her shock before she turned to take her leave. She was half way across the room and almost to the door when her name sounded out through the air.

"…Sakura?"

The young, pink-haired girl stopped shot of griping the handle of the door to turn around and glance back at the Hokage who was currently gazing back at her. "Yes?" she asked, her green eyes revealing a slight wariness.

"…You know that you were lucky that that Kagari kid came and found you instead of someone else…If it hadn't have been for him, who knows what could have possible happened to you…"

Sakura's orbs widened with surprise at the statement before she looked silently down to her feet. A small frown spread across her lips and the self-loathing flowed rapidly through her veins as she admitted in a small voice, "Hai…I know."

She could still feel Tsunade's weighty gaze on her, but she didn't dare to look up to meet it and after several more seconds of silence, she heard her shishou say, "Good…Well if there is nothing else, you are free to go."

"Thank you," Sakura whispered out before turning to let herself out.

Opening the door that led into the office, she closed it behind her without a sound before leaning back against it for some kind of support while she felt the sudden need to cry and let it all out come over her.

_Don't you dare do it…!_

A few short seconds passed by until Sakura felt she had enough strength to push herself away from her prop up and letting out a shaky breath, she started on her way to leave.

All she really wanted to do now was go take a shower, get a clean pair of clothes to change into, and then go to sleep for a couple of long hours, but as she rounded the corner, she soon found out that none of her wishes were something that would be coming true in the near future.

The sound of her tall, black boots clacking against the wooden floor came to an immediate halt when she saw the tall form standing further down the hallway, leaning against the wall casually with his hands deep in the pockets of his leather jacket while looking as if he was waiting for someone.

Knowing that that someone Kiba was probably looking for was her, Sakura took a small, hesitant step back, wondering if she could make a speedy escape and find another way out before he spotted her.

_Don't look over here…_

But it was already too late. His head turned in her general direction and she watched with anguish as his dark, brown orbs focused in on her form.

At the simple sight of her standing there, Kiba instantly pushed himself away from the wall and up to his full height before starting towards her. "Sakura," he greeted without one of his grins or even with any hint of a happy tone as he came to stop about a yard in front of her. "How are you…?"

"Kiba…" she said, her eyes turning guarded against the boy. "What are you doing here?" she asked her own question quite bluntly with a tone that sounded a bit too sharp even to her own ears.

Kiba didn't show that he had any problems with her obvious rudeness though since he immediately offered an answer to her inquiry without any hesitation. "I went by the hospital this morning to check up on you," he began to explain to her while his own nervousness caused him to shift from foot to foot uneasily. "But they told me that you'd already left to come down here, so…"

The expression in Sakura's sea green orbs turned into irritation. "So you followed me, then?" she finished for him.

Her words only caused Kiba's expression to harden with a heated glare. "I was worried about you!" he defended himself, the volume of his voice rising slightly as it revealed his quickly building anger. "Damn it, Sakura! You make me sound like some crazy stalker!"

_Stop it. Just leave me alone or you're going to get hurt!_

"…Well, I appreciate your concern," Sakura said icily as she pushed past him hard so she could continue on her way. "But I'm fine!"

_Don't follow me…_

To her disappointment she felt Kiba fall easily into step beside her only a second later as he asked, "Just what the hell is your problem?!"

_My problem is that I'm trying to break off contact with you to save your stupid ass, but you just don't seem to get it!_

"I don't have any problem," she responded in an unkind tone while she quickened her pace to try and lose him, but persistent as always, Kiba effortlessly kept up with the new speed she set without even breaking a sweat. Hoping he'd back off if she just acted mean, she snapped back at him, "What's yours'"

"My problem is with how you're acting!"

Sakura glanced his way to give him a nasty scowl. "And what's wrong," she started, instant relief filling her as she saw the exit about four yards ahead, "with the way I'm acting?!"

Reaching out, Kiba's long fingers wrapped around Sakura's thin wrist, snatching it up in his strong grip and forcing her to come to halt in her steps. Pulling on her arm slightly, he made her face him fully while stopping her from getting to the sweet outside that she currently craved so badly.

_Stop it!_

"Let me go!" Sakura commanded with a shout, jerking back to try and free herself from him but to her annoyance, he hung on tightly. "Now!"

_Please…Just leave me alone…_

"No! You said we could go back to being friends but you're just pushing me away and not even allowing me to do that! What the hell is up with you?!"

_I'll hurt you again if I have to! If that's what it's going to take, I'll do it…!_

"Well, I am very sorry but I just don't feel like acting all buddy/buddy with you at the moment because of yesterday, and if you don't let me go right now, I'll make you!"

She pulled against his grip once more and this time, she felt him let her free.

Hastily, she turned smartly on her heel before he could get another word in and started for the door once more. Flinging it open with a loud thumping sound, she marched out as fast as she could, not even bothering to hold it open for Kiba who banged into it ungracefully right behind her before making it through as well.

_Don't follow me!_

Walking out further into the busy street, Sakura made a sharp turn to her left, trying her best to lose the pursuing boy as quickly as she could by blending into the over-sized crowed that had come out to enjoy and bask in the beautiful, sunny morning.

"Sakura!" she could hear Kiba shouting after her constantly retreating back while he chased hurriedly behind her which caused him to bump into several pissed off people. "Just wait up for one damn minute!"

Stopping, Sakura did as she decided to turn and face him fully with a loud, exasperated sigh and a determined expression. "Listen, Kiba!" she started with a pointed tone. "I just-

"Sakura-chan!" an earsplitting voice rang out stridently, causing almost everybody who stood on the street to turn in the direction it had come from. Both Kiba and Sakura were no different as they glanced over to see an eager-looking Naruto running towards their way. "Sakura-chan!" the blonde called out again, waving his hand in a warm greeting.

"Naruto…?" Sakura asked with a small, confused expression when the boy stopped no more than a couple feet from her. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde's breath escaped out in small, fast puffs, showing that he'd probably been running for some time as he told her, "Jeeze! I can't believe how hard it was to find you! We've been looking for you all morning!"

Sakura's brows knit together. "_We?"_

"Good morning, Haruno-san," a voice greeted cheerfully, causing Sakura's olive-colored orbs to widen with slight shock before the looked past Naruto to see an approaching Sasori walking up to her and the other two boys with one of his fake grins on his face. "How are you today?" he asked as if he cared, coming to a stop at the blonde's side. "Feeling any better…?"

Sakura didn't bother to offer him an answer or any polite salutation in turn. Instead, her response was to glare at the puppet master angrily with strong dislike before turning to Naruto.

"What is he doing here?" she as well as Kiba asked at the same time though Kiba's voice surprisingly held more anger than hers'.

The blonde's cerulean orbs were as bright as the big, goofy grin on his lips as he answered, "He's here because we're all going out!"

The answer caused Sakura's eyes to narrow in misunderstanding. "Wh-What…?"

"He's here because we're all going out!" Naruto repeated once more, his voice even louder this time as he exclaimed the sentence. "It's a celebration for you not getting hurt and also for thanking Kagari!"

The pink-haired girl's mouth opened and closed again in shock as she tried to process the information she had just received. "What?" she repeated since it was the only word she sadly could currently manage to form.

Naruto sighed as her question, leaning to his right side and giving her a small exasperated look as he carried out the action. "Do I have to say it all again?" he whined before saying again with less enthusiasm, "We're all going out to celebrate…"

Sakura's eyes flew over to Sasori, locking gazes with him for a short moment before they slid back to her blonde teammate. "B-But…" she started, not sure what to say exactly. "Naruto…I-

"Am I invited?" Kiba asked, cutting of anymore of her mumbled sentence as he entered the conversation.

Naruto glanced his way, giving the young brown-haired man a onceover before answering, "Depends…"

Kiba's expression was overcome with irritation because of the single word. "On what?" he questioned, his teeth grinding together while he shoved his hands into his pockets angrily.

"On whether you're going to act like a stupid jackass again!" Naruto replied, crossing his arms while giving a glare.

"I wasn't acting like a jackass!" Kiba shouted, defending himself while his temper was starting to get the best of him. Looking past the blonde's shoulder, he pointed at the puppet master. "I already told you that it was him!"

"No! It was you!" Naruto shot right back, sounding no better than a toddler in a fight as he did it. "And you know it! Just admit it already!"

Kiba parted his lips once more to give yet another rejection to the idea of him acting like a jerk but he stopped himself right before the words could escape from his mouth. Looking to his side, he glanced at the pink-haired girl who stood there and then slid his gaze over 'Kagari', giving the other man a full glare of dislike, but he still mumbled out under his breath, "Fine…I won't act like a jackass again…Can I come?"

A grin broke out across Naruto's face. "Yep!" he answered brightly before turning to Sakura. "Okay, then. Let's go!"

"No," she objected, taking a step back from the little group that they'd formed. "I'm not going!"

"What?" Naruto blinked at her with confusion. "But Sakura-chan-

"No!"

"Ahhh…Sakura-chan," the blonde whined out with a large frown, showing his disappointment at her lack of eagerness for the idea. "But why…?

"Because…" she started, meeting Sasori's golden-brown orbs that starred directly back into her own with a slight haughty look.

_Because of him!_

"Because, I'm just really tired," she said, coming up with a fake excuse that would be good enough to hopefully suffice. "It seems that so much has happened in the last twenty-four hours and I just really want to go home and take a shower before getting some rest…" Her words only seems to put Naruto down more, making her feel slightly guilty for her lying, but not enough to change her mind. "I'm sorry," she finished, trying to offer a kind smile to her teammate.

"That's okay," Sasori cut into the conversation with that phony cheerfulness he currently possessed as well as a grin. "I understand Haruno-san. Naruto-san, Kiba-san, and I can go alone today and maybe when you're feeling slightly better, you can come another time…"

The puppet master's words caught the young, pink-haired girl's attention, just as he knew it would.

_'And then…I'll escalate it a bit. Who knows? Maybe one of your friends will up and disappear without a trace and be found dead in a ditch the next day…'_

The words Sasori had told her earlier came back to ring through her mind like some earsplitting, warning bell.

"What do you think of that plan, Haruno-san?" 'Kagari' asked her, a hint of his true self shining through his expression and eyes. "Does it work for you?"

_Bastard!_

She glared in return. "…I change my mind," she hissed out through clenched teeth. "I'll come too." To her side, Kiba gave her a weird look while Naruto cheered happily at her sudden change of heart, but she ignored them both, only focusing in on Sasori. "_What do you think of that plan, _Kagari-_san,"_ Sakura asked, using his words over in her own sentence though hers' wasn't as sugarcoated as his. "_Does it work for you?"_

She watched as a small smirk overcame the puppet master's lips, showing that he was obviously humored by her mouthing off. "Quite," he answered. "Shall we get going then…?"

"Let's just get this over with," she snapped, pushing past him hard as well as the other two boys. "Naruto, where are we going?!"

"Ichiraku!" the blonde answered with a joyful shout which only caused Sakura's eyes to roll.

_Of course…_


End file.
